George and Andrew arrived with an attitude statement on Top Of The Pops then repeated it for 8 months or so until Club Tropicana suggested they might have a bit more to them. Careless Whisper confirmed that, virtually a Wham! record anyway as it was labelled in the USA so 5.8 million is arguable. The rest of Wham's career was great, but not as great as George's solo career, never prolific, but pure class, meticulous, varied, and one of the great singers of the 80's. He made it look easy, which disguised just how good he was, but he could always keep up with whoever he was duetting with, or more usually shine. Last Christmas remains the most-popular christmas ballad in the UK each christmas, which is pretty impressive. That's in all of music history with no sign of easing off or new competition.

not the biggest fan of Wham, especially the early singles were so pedestrian

5. MICHAEL JACKSON (5,401,300)

23 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: ONE DAY IN YOUR LIFE (686,000)

 

It may surprise some that Jacko only comes in in 5^th place on the rundown, and that his personal best seller in the decade is the often forgotten “One Day In Your Life” but these are both facts.  Jackson was of course responsible for revolutionising the video promo and redefining how many singles you could pluck from an album  as well as setting the standards for choreography in the medium. He entered the 80s as a popstar but was a megastar by the end of it becoming one of only 5 acts to shift 5 million singles in the decade.

Wow, really thought MJ would be #2

wow really thought he was gonna be #1

guess it's cos he mainly had 2 eras (Thriller and Bad) plus that early single

agree the 80s made him the biggest supertar

I thought Michael Jackson would be in the top 2 as well. I can only think of three of the remaining four, I wonder who I have forgotten?

I think I've worked out which four acts are left, provided I haven't forgotten any of them appearing already - one of them is perhaps surprising to be this high.

I can only think of 3 too

1 is my fav artist of the 80s <3

the other 2 are oldfashioned and hate them with a passion :D

I could only think of 3 but we’re in a bar in Rhodes Town and ‘Cherish’ has just come on so it’s made me think that could be the fourth act

Michael Jackson was the same age as me, so we were both 11 when The Jackson 5 hit, and I loved them, and then Michael's 70's solo singles right up to around 1974. The Jacksons were sporadically great, and of course Off The Wall was the one that made Michael a huge star and set up for the 80's. The Quincy Jones era was just amazing, and yes it's slightly surprising he's only at 5, but then it was his album sales that broke records, not his singles sales. Me, I was a huge fan in the 80's as well, and caught him in concert in the 90's. In 1988 I had to make do with listening outside Wembley Stadium to Kim Wilde on support and a bit of Michael after a day out in London - couldnt get tickets. That is the only time I have been (sad enough to) sit outside a musical event. I did at least get to see Paul Young walk by me with his model girlfriend, so it wasn't a complete waste of time. Best tracks of the 80's: Billie Jean, Thriller, Man In The Mirror, but the 2 albums are both pop classics.

top 4, well one is blindingly obvious, one had the most hits and I'm struggling to think of the other 2 as I'd thought we had already had the other big ones 😮

4. MADNESS (5,434,400)

21 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST HIT: BAGGY TROUSERS (561,000)

BIGGEST SELLING ACT OF 1980

 

One of only 2 acts in the decade to sell a million in three different years in the 80s, Madness led the list in 1980 and again from 1982 to 1984 getting 14 top 10 singles from 15 releases between 1980 and 1984.  The pace slackened thereafter and the group split in 1986 with a slimmed version continuing on with only 1 charting single but they were undeniably one of the defining acts of the decade.

Ah I hadn't thought of Madness! I had been thinking Queen were in the top 4 and had forgotten they already appeared at #17. Great singles band and prolific in the first half of the 80s so it makes sense they are high in this list, but to be above Michael Jackson is quite an achievement for them.

I thought Madness had already appeared lol :D

I had a phase in the early 90s that I kinda liked them, when It must be love was a hit again and they released that Greatest hits in 92 that was in the charts forever... I like a few songs but they have tons of average songs for me too

Ah Madness ofc! Pretty good going seeing as they split in 1986!

I think I know the medalists now (if not the order haha)

Oh I was thinking the 4th act was Kool & the Gang as I’d completely missed them earlier at #19 - thought my clue was subtle enough that everyone would assume I was thinking of Madonna too, but I was just way off!!

Should have thought of Madness really, they’re not a favourite of mine but I do like some of their songs in small doses.

Oh Madness, I thought they'd just been in the list, totally one of my fave acts of the 90's, they have some films on youtube about their career and it's fascinating - they really were a bunch of potential petty criminals who lucked into the music biz and turned out they did things their own way, were very very London-centric, and were hugely loveable and inventive given they worked largely within ska. The funny videos and laddy attitude shouldnt be a negative but not taking yourself seriously is somehow seen as lesser then pretentious earnestness in the Arts, so I'm always there to fly that flag because that is clearly nonsense. Madness were fabulous for 5 years, from One Step Beyond to Michael Caine, via gems like Nightboat To Cairo, It Must Be Love, Our House, Wings Of A Dove and many more.

I regularly watch Youtube videos from David Bennett and his inciteful analyses of the technicalities of music from classical to current and he has just done Our House. Madness don't follow the "rules" no surprises, and it works beautifully:

3. CLIFF RICHARD (5,590,300)

25 TOP 40 HITS

BEST SELLER: MISTLETOE & WINE (760,000)

 

Didn’t Cliff do well!  After a mixed 70s he seemed to find his footing again in the 80s with a couple of chart toppers including the festive No 1 for 1988 “Misletoe & Wine”.  He even managed to get 3 top 3 hits back to back in 1989- something he hadn’t done since his early 60s hey day so much had he returned to form!  His tenacity sees him into bronze position in part due to all those duets in the 80s (Phil Everley, Sarah Brightman, Van Morrison, The Young Ones among others).

As we're concluding tomorrow with the top 2, here's the top 100 so far...

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

99. JULIO IGLESIAS (1,385,900)

98. SINITTA (1,390,700)

97. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (1,418,900)

96. IRENE CARA (1,420,600)

95. THE COMMUNARDS (1,429,000)

94.  BROS (1,456,800)

93. THE BANGLES (1,473,300)

92. YAZOO (1,473,900)

91. TOYAH (1,540,900)

  

90. MODERN ROMANCE (1,541,000)

89. KATE BUSH (1,542,700)

88. ALISON MOYET (1,554,000)

87. DOLLAR (1,569,200)

86. JIVE BUNNY & THE MASTERMIXERS (1,576,500)

85. THE STRANGLERS (1,577,600)

84. NIK KERSHAW (1,594,200)

83. GARY NUMAN (1,602,700)

82. TIGHT FIT (1,610,800)

81. FUN BOY THREE (1,621,800)

 

80. GEORGE BENSON (1,623,500)

79. ABC (1,624,200)

78. THE BEAT (1,641,600)

77. THE PRETENDERS (1,651,900)

76. DIRE STRAITS (1,660,649)

75. DONNA SUMMER (1,669,400)

74. IRON MAIDEN (1,671,300)

73. ROXY MUSIC (1,761,300)

72. GENESIS (1,762,300)

71. HOT CHOCOLATE (1,769,200)

 

70. ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA (1,788,100)

69. STYLE COUNCIL (1,788,700)

68. NEW ORDER (1,800,900)

67. EDDY GRANT (1,851,300)

66. TINA TURNER (1,859,900)

65. THE NOLANS (1,867,600)

64. ODYSSEY (1,879,900)

63. BILLY OCEAN (1,909,700)

62. SHEENA EASTON (1,922,700)

61. FIVE STAR (1,938,800)

 

 

60. THOMPSON TWINS (1,966,300)

59. IMAGINATION (1,970,300)

58. THE SPECIALS (1,984,300)

57. U2 (1,984,400)

56. ERASURE (2,002,100)

55. SHALAMAR (2,006,200)

54. HOWARD JONES (2,012,900)

53. RICK ASTLEY (2,032,100)

52. BLONDIE (2,058,800)

51. BILLY JOEL (2,071,300)

 

50. LEVEL 42 (2,105,700)

49. PAUL YOUNG (2,112,700)

48. A-HA (2,118,400)

47. BAD MANNERS (2,170,500)

46. ROD STEWART (2,214,600)

45. JASON DONOVAN (2,261,500)

44. SIMPLE MINDS (2,271,800)

43. ABBA (2,297,500)

42. WHITNEY HOUSTON (2,368,700)

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

 

40. ELTON JOHN (2,558,000)

39. PRINCE (2,622,100)

38. BAND AID (2,671,600)

37. JOHN LENNON (2,674,800)

36. ULTRAVOX (2,702,200)

35. DEXY’S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS (2,735,500)

34. SOFT CELL (2,764,100)

33. ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK (2,765,100)

32. GEORGE MICHAEL (2,804,100)

31. DEPECHE MODE (2,837,100)

 

30. PET SHOP BOYS (2,849,000)

29. KIM WILDE (2,894,200)

28. EURYTHMICS (2,932,000)

27. LIONEL RICHIE (2,962,000)

26. THE POLICE (3,080,900)

25. BUCKS FIZZ (3,277,500)

24. STATUS QUO (3,293,600)

23. BANANARAMA (3,310,000)

22. KYLIE MINOGUE (3,337,500)

21. THE HUMAN LEAGUE (3,381,100)

 

20. DIANA ROSS (3,395,500)

19. KOOL & THE GANG (3,401,300)

18. SPANDAU BALLET (3,567,200)

17. QUEEN (3,693,300)

16. THE JAM (3,719,800)

15. CULTURE CLUB (3,898,000)

14. ADAM & THE ANTS (4,144,200)

13. PAUL MCCARTNEY (4,174,900)

12. PHIL COLLINS (4,178,700)

11. FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD (4,363,600)

 

10. DURAN DURAN (4,369,700)

9. UB40 (4,634,300)

8. STEVIE WONDER (4,786,200)

7. DAVID BOWIE (4,809,400)

6. WHAM! (4,831,100)

5. MICHAEL JACKSON (5,401,300)

4. MADNESS (5,434,400)

3. CLIFF RICHARD (5,590,300)

Cliff Richard was the one in the top 4 that I had forgotten but I did work out it must be him shortly afterwards. Consistency for all 10 years counts for a lot, I suppose.