On 16/06/2025 at 17:55, Gezza said:

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.

Yey

One of the best pop acts ever!

Three good acts there, but my favourite of them is Tears for Fears.

Tracks like Mother's Talk and Mad World stand out.

Best Prince is 1999

Best Elton is I'm Still Standing (or I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues)

My favourite Prince song is 'When Doves Cry' and the accompanying Purple Rain project is an all-time favourite, a great decade for him in general 💜

I really like the first two Tears for Fears albums also, not heard any others past that but do enjoy 'Sowing the Seeds of Love' so should probably give #3 a go

Great choices for the youtubes again there - 'Head Over Heels' and 'Raspberry Beret' are often underrated among the respective artists' bigger hits.

oh Prince <3

I think Tears for Fears are a tad over-rated, I really like Mad world but that's about it

I adore Tears For Fears, Everybody… and Head over Heels especially.

Prince is one of the defining acts of the decade and I can't overemphasise how influential he is. A true genius.

Tears for Fears first two albums are pretty solid and typical of their times but I never thought they were that special

Elton John had his moments but they were pretty much all in the 70s really.

38. BAND AID (2,671,600)

1 TOP 40 HIT

BIGGEST SELLER: DO THEY KNOW IT’S CHRISTMAS (2,671,000)

 

Here of course for THAT song- the panel sales indicate that it did indeed “only” sell 2.6 million in the 80s and not the often quoted 3 million but regardless it did enough to make the charity congregation one of the top 40 acts of the decade with just 1 track.  Opening with sales of 574k it had cleared 2.1 million in its first 4 weeks which was phenomenal by any standard and of course has spawned three chart topping “covers” in 1989, 2004 and 2014- all with their “moments” but nothing captured the magic of the original.

37. JOHN LENNON (2,674,800)

8 TOP 40 HITS:

BIGGEST SELLER: IMAGINE (717,000)

 

Lennon’s death in late 1980 caused such an outpouring of grief that he scored three chart toppers in just 8 weeks as Lennon really racked up the sales albeit for the most tragic of reasons.  He was just returning to the charts in December 1980 after 5 years away when he was assassinated in New York, an act which sent his (then) current single “Starting Over” from 21 to 1 only to be denied the festive No 1 by St Winifred’s School Choir….

36. ULTRAVOX (2,702,200)

16 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: VIENNA (703,000)

 

Lennon’s “Woman” also denied Ultravox their only No 1 with “Vienna” but of course that was forgotten when “Shuddup You Face” replaced Lennon at the top and Midge Ure took Umbrage against the Australian and created a bit of pop history that is still remembered.  Ultravox went on to have many more hits before splitting in 1986 but only had 3 top 10 hits to their credit.

What were the total singles panel sales for The Beatles as group (reissues etc) during the 1980s, Gezza? I’m assuming they didn’t make the Top 100…

Ultravox being the best here.

Hymn, Loves Great Adventure, Dancing With Tears...

And "that piano song"????

Few years ago a mate was talking about a programme he watched which had "that piano song" in it.

When I questioned further he said.

"You know.(Sings) Ohhhhhh. PIANO!"

He had no idea it was called Vienna.

10 minutes ago, chartjack2 said:

What were the total singles panel sales for The Beatles as group (reissues etc) during the 1980s, Gezza? I’m assuming they didn’t make the Top 100…

In terms of what we do know their sales would have been a fraction under 686k with 1982 accounting for almost half a million of those alone.

Ultravox were a defining band in my musical history. Of all the New Romantic bands they were the most arty and thoughtful I thought. Plus the 3 albums with John Foxx are all brilliantly ahead of their time.

Lennon was truly gifted and cruelly taken away but it took me another 20 odd years before I'd set about properly listening to his solo work. He and The Beatles et al, symbolised my parents generation so I ignored a lot of it for way too long.

Edited Thursday at 17:324 days by Severin

Ultravox are one of those acts I need to check out more of, I know about 3 songs but I like 'em!

1 hour ago, Jessie Where said:

Ultravox are one of those acts I need to check out more of, I know about 3 songs but I like 'em!

I'd say start with the Vienna album as it's the one most like what you will expect and it's great.

The follow up Rage in Eden is also great but the album feels more like a whole piece rather than a collection of songs. Plus the singles from it were heavily edited for radio.

Alternatively the Quartet album is much poppier but for me feels rather lightweight but is still decent. Lament is ok but the ideas are wearing thin. Avoid U-Vox like the plague althoughAll Fall Down is brilliant, if very different for them. Ignore anything between that and Brilliant as it's not really Ultravox. Brilliant though is pretty decent.

Then there's the John Foxx albums -

Ultravox! - Roxy Music inspired Proto Punk

Ha! Ha! Ha! - Post Punk during the Punk era and one fo my favourite albums ever.

Systems of Romance - The template for 80s New Romantic and probably their most influential album. For me the weakest of the three.

I much prefer The Voice and Dancing With Tears In My Eyes and Love's Great Adventure to Vienna! I like their epic sound and later electronic genres like trance sound influenced by it I think!

Ultravox's run of singles in the 80s is pretty faultless, the same goes for Tears For Fears.

Dancing with Tears in my eyes > Vienna

'Vienna' is utter magic and one of my favourite songs. I'm another who needs to do a proper deep dive outside the singles!

Same with John Foxx really as I mostly know 'Underpass' but not a lot else