47. BAD MANNERS (2,170,500)

9 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: CAN CAN (440,000)

 

Not the biggest 2Tone/ Ska act on the list but certainly one of the most popular with distinctive frontman Busta Bloodvessal whose antics eventually got the group banned from TOTP.  They spent over 100 weeks on the charts in the early 80s though the hits were over by the time 1984 came around, they disbanded in 1987 but hey it was fun while it lasted.

So pleased i have stumbled into this thread !!! ❤️

oh Bad Manners that is really my least fav band ever, even worse than Iron Maiden :D how could they outsell Erasure, A-ha, U2 etc

46. ROD STEWART (2,214,600)

13 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: BABY JANE (436,000)

 

An interesting one, undoubtedly one of the biggest stars of the 70s Rod seemed to have an image problem by the time 1980 came round with a career blown slightly off course by the song “Do You Think I’m Sexy”.  Though that was a very successful single, his foray into disco backfired when the genre experienced a backlash in the early 80s (in the US certainly) and it took him some time to gain back credibility.  1983’s “Baby Jane” helped him move into the 80s psyche but it’s really consistency through the entire decade which has placed him here, 19 hits of which just 4 went top 10- but another 2 million is still a great show!

45. JASON DONOVAN (2,261,500)

6 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: ESPECIALLY FOR YOU (844,000)

 

So onto the third highest placed on the list who are recalled for their work predominately with S/A/W in the decade, Donovan was without doubt the top teen scream act of 1989 selling over 1.5 million in the final year of the decade alone.  His place also illustrates another cultural phenomenon of the late 80s- the large scale consumption of Australian TV that the British lapped up with “Neighbours” “Home And Away” “Sons and Daughters” and “Prisoner” all getting the viewers.

wow Jason did amazingly basically in 1 year-time, beating Rick Astley in the process.

never been a fan of Rod Stewart, fail to see his appeal...

Didn't mind Bad Manners, they weren't great but had a few fun tracks like Special Brew, Lip Up Fatty and an entertaining romp through Offenbach's Galop Infernal - aka the 'Can Can'

Rod Stewart is one of those artist where I never understand the longevity. Aside from some brilliant work with the Faces and a pair of cracking early #1s in Maggie May and You Wear it Well, he's been tedious for decades. Great voice though and I can't help think of a certain Kenny Everett sketch when it comes to Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?

Jason Donovan? Decent bloke, but a decidely average singer who got lucky. I always hated what SAW were doing at this point as it was a creative vacuum.

Edited June 15Jun 15 by Severin

Although Jason Donovan is my favourite of the latest three, he really was just the pretty male face of Neighbours who could hold a tune and was dating Kylie.

He had a couple or so decent songs but some bad ones too and it wasn't surprising the heady days of his pop career didn't last a huge amount of time.

44. SIMPLE MINDS (2,271,800)

16 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: DON’T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME (332,000)

 

Thought these might be higher?  Me too but here they are.  Simple Minds spent most of the decade as a stadium rock band especially from 1985 onwards when they hit it big with the US chart topper “Don’t You Forget About Me”.  They had to wait until 1989 for a No 1 here but they can claim to be the biggest Scottish band of the 80s so that’s something at the very least!

43. ABBA (2,297,500)

8 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: SUPER TROUPER (653,000)

 

70s superstars still going strong in the 80s.  They opened brightly with a pair of chart-topping singles before the law of diminishing returns kicked in from 1981 onwards.  They never officially called it a day but by 1983 they had effectively split but had done enough to secure a top 50 position for the decade, good thing to as they were deemed to be very uncool for the remainder of the decade until that 90s revival.

42. WHITNEY HOUSTON (2,368,700)

10 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY (WHO LOVES ME) (603,000)

 

The 5^th highest placed solo female singer on the list and certainly the one with the biggest voice!  She only had 9 hit singles in the decade but clearly we loved her enough to give her three chart toppers (which only looked poor compared to her 7 straight US chart toppers in the same period).

Real life intervenes tomorrow - back on Weds

Don't You Forget About Me being one of THE songs of the 80s. I love The Breakfast Club.

My ABBA top three all come from the 80s - 'Lay All Your Love On Me', 'The Winner Takes It All' and 'One of Us', so still going strong!

Abba justifiably top 50, and on a par with Whitney is pretty impressive considering they had just 8 singles and that was that - including one 70's track. They are clearly a timeless all-time great and exactly how I rated them at the time. I was at ABBA Voyage for the 3rd time a week ago, with added 3 hits nowadays. 3 years and still running with packed houses. As I never caught them at the time (they rarely toured) it's about as good as one can make it for a "live" experience. Speaking of Whitney, she had the vocal range but rarely used it any significant emotional effect until the late 90's. Saving All My Love was her best 80's record by a long shot.

Simple Minds did well here, and were consistently good, I loved all the phases, including stadium rock, and they are still good and great in concert. Jason Donovan's slot is predictable but flattering. When You Come Back is his best track, but he had a couple of other decent singles. I saw him in Priscilla, clearly flagging after a long West End run. We had taken a bargain-priced royal box, cheap as chips on the day. As it turned out because you get the piss taken out of you...

I reviewed Bad manners for Record Mirror in 1981 - they were great fun in concert, as long as you avoid the pints of beer flinging about. Just A Feeling is their best track but how can anyone not love Ne Ne Na Na Nu Nu!! A-ha were fab, Sun Always Shines is a total classic, and they deserve to be in the top half, caught them twice in concert, fab. Rod Stewart Ive never seen live, but I saw the godawful Tonight's The Night musical. Rod is great when he writes his own songs, and very dull when he doesn't. Baby Jane is easily his best track of the 80's.

Saw Billy Joel last year at cardiff, his classically-influenced back catalogue is impressive and varied, but he'd be much lower without Uptown Girl. We Didnt Start The Fire is my top 80's Billy tune.

Whitney <3 my fab of the last 3. Don't mind Simple Minds but don't really rate them.

Abba were never my thing.

Simple Minds were great in the early Post Punk days (Empires and Dance is an oft forgotten gem) but I kind of lose interest around 1983 when Sparkle in the Rain is their last decent album.

Not much needs to be said about Abba although they were clearly on the decline in the 80s. That being said The Day Before You Came and Winner Takes it All are exceptional, even by their standards.

Never liked Whitney. Good voice but she tends to go for the vocal theatrics too much. Not my kind of thing.

41. TEARS FOR FEARS (2,554,500)

11 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE/RUN THE WORLD (549,000)

 

Just missing out on the top 40 are these boys, one of the biggest acts to make it in the US in the second invasion of the mid 80s (they scored a couple of chart toppers there) .  They moved from synth pop to stadium rock through the decade though they pulled out the biggest stadium concert of the decade, Live Aid.  To make up they re-recorded their biggest hit for Sport Aid the following year.

40. ELTON JOHN (2,558,000)

14 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: NIKITA (386,000)

 

Into the top 40 we go with Elton who only sold more than half a million singles in one year of the decade (1983) but persistence pays off for the 70s superstar who still produced some classics in the decade.  He provoked anger by playing Sun City in the mid 80s and found himself in court with “The Sun” over a story involving rent boys which he won!  He also married his recording engineer Renate Blauel in 1984 which lasted three years and which was labelled by John as a mistake years later.

39. PRINCE (2,622,100)

20 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: 1999 (461,000)

 

One of the biggest and most influential acts of the decade, perhaps it’s a surprise that Prince is so relatively low on this list, in truth he was never a great selling act in any particular year though he cleared half a million in both 1984 and 1985.  The total here includes his sales with The Revolution (Just for info)