July 8, 20251 yr I was hoping it would be Shaky just to see the reaction. Thanks for doing another interesting countdown, Gezza.
July 8, 20251 yr Imagine Shakin Stevens winning over Madonna... That would have been insane.Ridiculous enough that he beat Michael Jackson!But he had the hits, I guess.Madonna the rightful Queen of the 80s.So many classics. Always thought Like a Prayer was the masterpiece, but True Blue is probably her best 80s album.And great for choosing Express Yourself for the video, especially with the awesome Blond Ambition choreography.
July 8, 20251 yr Interesting. I have never seen any answer other than Shakey, for the last 30 odd years. Would be interestng to see the breakdown of the numbers
July 9, 20251 yr Funny enough I just went and asked ChatGTP, the answer... Shakin'Stevens :D same with google
July 9, 20251 yr Author We need to bear in mind that the actual panel sales have only been known for a few years now and no one has (to the best of my knowledge) totted them up and produced a list like this. It may be that previous articles omitted the word "UK" or "British" or that they used another metric like most top 40 hits or indeed most hits in the decade which i believe Shaky does hold too.
July 9, 20251 yr Yes, I've always taken any sales claims with a pinch of salt unless it came direct from Alan Jones/Music Week - people doing TV rundowns like to have a hook they can use to grab people. Shaky was always claimed to be the biggest singles act of the decade by virtue of number of hits, is how I remember it, or most top of the pops appearances. In terms of impact, Madonna was always going to win, she changed pop music from male/bands dominated to female-dominated (eventually) by being in control and opting for dance music rather than singer-songwriter.Shaky was better than I remembered, I took my Aunty (aged 85) to see a Shaky tribute last year and he was pretty good - I'd forgotten how many tracks Shaky had bunged out and he got his break starring in the London Elvis musical circa '79. Best tracks? Not the covers or xmas songs. You Drive Me Crazy, Cry Just A Little Bit maybe. Madonna best tracks? Drove past the Ex's Dorset airfield last week, I was surveying roads in that area back in 1984 as Her Madgeness was breaking, so let's go for Holiday, and Like A Prayer, Dear Jessie, Papa Don't Preach, Express Yourself.
July 9, 20251 yr Thank you GezzaSo George is the clear winner with total sales of more than 7.6 million single sales and only 19 Hits compared to other Artists with more than 20.No one can compare to George he was genius wrote produced sang and sometimes played all instruments by himself.Did you also count the Club Fantastic Mega Mix and Backing Vocals in Nikita and Last Kiss ?
July 9, 20251 yr Author 20 minutes ago, Yog1963 said:Thank you GezzaSo George is the clear winner with total sales of more than 7.6 million single sales and only 19 Hits compared to other Artists with more than 20.No one can compare to George he was genius wrote produced sang and sometimes played all instruments by himself.Did you also count the Club Fantastic Mega Mix and Backing Vocals in Nikita and Last Kiss ?"Club fantastic megamix" is in the Wham total. Only official credits count so anybody doing being vocals on anything won't count unless they are a credited.
July 9, 20251 yr Difficult to pick a fav from Madonna's 80s singlesbut has to be between Live to Tell and Into the Groovethe songs couldn't be more differentalso love Like a Prayer, Papa don't preach, La isla bonita, Dress you up, BorderlineHoliday, Lucky Star and Dear Jessie prob in my bottom 3
July 9, 20251 yr 16 minutes ago, Yog1963 said:Thank you GezzaSo George is the clear winner with total sales of more than 7.6 million single sales and only 19 Hits compared to other Artists with more than 20.No one can compare to George he was genius wrote produced sang and sometimes played all instruments by himself.Did you also count the Club Fantastic Mega Mix and Backing Vocals in Nikita and Last Kiss ?19 minutes ago, Gezza said:"Club fantastic megamix" is in the Wham total. Only official credits count so anybody doing being vocals on anything won't count unless they are a credited.Thank youDo you have sales from each single song starting with Wham Rap?
July 10, 20251 yr I strongly dislike Papa Don't Preach, but love two first albums and Dear Jessie / Like A Prayer.Material Girl is her 10/10 song for me.
July 10, 20251 yr I’ve loved following this since I discovered it, thank you Gezza!!I’ve gone through and added a few songs from each artist into a playlist and I’m working my way through it. So far my fave discoveries have been Dollar, Imagination, and Odyssey.
July 11, 20251 yr Just finished this thread Kate and as ever @Gezza is amazing at creating these epic threads, def the best on BJ. Happy with the no1 and although I’m not a mega Madge fan her music speaks for itself.Do have time for a bit of shaky though as his Xmas no1 is so iconic and joyous. And he was SO consistent in the decade. This Ole House will always now remind me of the Caravan Club episode of the Inbetweeners used for its naffness no doubt! 🤣
13 hours ago13 hr Yet again absolutely fascinating, some of the top 20 really surprised me, Kool & the Gang being in the top 20 and Queen not being in the top 10 were the two big surprises.Sad to see Cher didn’t make the top 100, thought perhaps Turn back time, I found someone, Dead ringer for love and Jesse James might have sold enough to get her in there. Her 90s story should be a little different though! 😍Glad however to see Diana Ross made it into the top 20 (and again a little surprised), guessing the sheer volume of releases helped her!?
Create an account or sign in to comment