It's my turn to do one of these and I've chosen 1983 which is my favourite year for UK chart singles. Most of the best ones didn't get to number 1 but there was a good quality to the chart toppers. There were 17 in total, each by a different artist and from several different genres. I'm only going to review the new number 1s so the Christmas number 1 from 1982, 'Save Your Love' by Renee and Renato, which held on for two more weeks will not be included here.

What was going on in 1983?

CDs went on sale for the first time, they didn't really take off until 1985.

The one pound coin was introduced.

Breakfast TV was launched with 'Breakfast Time' on BBC1 soon followed by 'TV-am' on ITV.

The Austin Metro was Britain's best selling car.

Margaret Thatcher won the general election for the Conservatives with a landslide victory over a Labour Party led by Michael Foot.

The World Athletics Championships were staged for the first time with Steve Cram, a gold medallist in the 1500m, going on to win the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year award.

The first 'Star Wars' trilogy concluded with 'Return Of The Jedi'.

Luxembourg won the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Si La Vie Est Cadeau' by Corinne Hermes, not a song that I remember.

Worldwide, the simmering Cold War tension between the United States and the Soviet Union was intensified after the Russians shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 after it had accidently drifted into Russian prohibited airspace.

My rankings will start tomorrow.

poor brave Michael Foot 🦶👣

Edited December 31, 2025Dec 31 by TheSnake

Looking forward to this series dipping into the 1980s now 🙌

intrigued to see your placings and thoughts.

I'm looking forward to this too - we're going to be flipping around the years a bit from here on in so that we get a wider variety of acts to talk about

17. Candy Girl - New Edition

Although they were young at the time, New Edition go back even further, being formed by Bobby Brown in 1978 when he was just nine years old. They got their big break in 1982 after performing on a talent show. They were given the name New Edition as they were seen as being a new edition of the Jackson Five. Candy Girl is the title track from their debut album and is the first UK number 1 single to feature rapping. It spent one week at the top of the chart in May but only got to number 46 in the US. The group were aged from 13 to 15 when the song was recorded with Ralph Tresvant singing most of the lead vocals. There was no wardrobe budget for the video so the boys wore their own clothes.

New Edition went on to have one more top 40 hit in the 80s and then two more in the mid 90s. Bobby Brown and Ralph Tresvant had their own solo success while the other three charted under the name Bell Biv Devoe. The group reformed in 2002 and continue to play live sporadically.

I don't actively dislike any of the 1983 number 1s, there is a lack of any cheesy novelty records in the year, and this one is catchy enough but I never really like records that are sung by children. Ralph's high pitched vocals are irritating to my ear and it's the sort of insubstantial bubblegum pop that I don't care for. On the plus side, the spoken sections bring out their personalities and the lyrics are innocent enough to suit the ages that they are. It's also quite interesting to hear what sounds like the tune of 'Ring a Ring o' Roses' being used as part of the backing track.

I haven’t reminded myself of the list so time will tell whether I agree with last place for that! It is on the irritating side but not bad.