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.

I was alive in 1983 but too young to remember it. The Top of the Pops reruns filled a lot of gaps in my knowledge though.

I like "Candy Girl". The first time I consciously remember it was when New Edition made their 90s come back with "Hit Me Off" and they showed this on Top of the Pops 2. I couldn't believe it was the same band.

16. Baby Jane - Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart was much more established as an artist compared to New Edition. His career in music had started in the early 60s with his first top 40 hit, 'Reason To Believe', coming in 1971. Running alongside his solo releases, his group Faces had their first hit in the same year. By 1983, he had five number 1 singles to his name with the last one coming in 1978 so this one was a bit of a surprise as his best chart placing since then was number 8 in 1981 with 'Tonight I'm Yours'. It turned out to be his final number 1 single, spending three weeks at the chart's summit in July, but he continues to endure, with regular number 1 albums and playing the Glastonbury Legends slot last year.

Baby Jane was the lead single from Rod's twelfth album, 'Body Wishes', with the music written by his bass player, Jay Davis, and Rod adding the lyrics later on. The Jane of the title has moved up to 'high society' and has dumped the song's protagonist who by the end of the song has managed to get over her.

Apart from 'Maggie May' and 'The Killing Of Georgie', I've not really liked any of Rod's singles and this one doesn't have much going for it. The production is uninspired and his vocal style is not to my liking. The song's melody is memorable and the main reason, I think, why this was a big hit.

'Baby Jane' is a fun record for me. Not crazy on 'Candy Girl'. It's alright I suppose.

I got a record player for my 17th birthday and my parents started off my collection with some of the earliest Now albums. Both of these songs were on the first edition and I remember finding the vocals of 'Candy Girl' quite shrill. That hasn't really changed so won't grumble about that last placer.

'Baby Jane' is actually a rare decent Rod song for me but indeed no 'The Killing Of Georgie'.

The bassline synths of Candy Girl are quite good at least I suppose. Five Star would a few years later also have the Jackson 5 influences with a slightly less high pitched vocal.

Rod's 'Baby Jane' is decent and catchy but the chorus is definitely better than the verses. I prefer his previous big hit 'Young Turks'.

2 hours ago, Roba. said:

'Baby Jane' is a fun record for me. Not crazy on 'Candy Girl'. It's alright I suppose.

Am a huge Rod fan, much prefer him to Elton but don't like Baby Jane but not sure why.

15. Karma Chameleon - Culture Club

Culture Club were formed in London in 1981. After failing to reach the top 100 with any of their first three singles, their big breakthrough came with the number 1 single 'Do You Really Want To Hurt Me'. This was followed by two more top 3 hits, 'Time (Clock Of The Heart) and 'Church Of The Poison Mind', so they had become one of the UK's most popular groups when Karma Chameleon was released. It went straight into the chart at number 3 and then spent six weeks at number 1 in September and October. It finished the year as the UK's best selling single with 1.52 million copies sold and went on to win the award for best single at the 1984 Brit Awards. The single was a number 1 in lots of other countries, including the US, eventually selling more than 5 million copies.

Lyrically, the song seems to be about sticking to your opinion even if those around you disagree but it does contain veiled references to Boy George's relationship with the group's drummer Jon Moss. The video is set in Mississippi in 1870 but was actually filmed in Weybridge, Surrey. It seems that they weren't being given the same video budget as Duran Duran.

Culture Club split up just three years later. They have reformed a couple of times since then with their most recent tour occurring in 2023.

It may have sold in huge amounts but I've never liked this song that much. I've always found the chorus to be really annoying. As always, Boy George puts in a good vocal and the harmonica parts are effective but that "karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon" part puts me off from ever wanting to listen to this song again. I much prefer their next single, 'Victims', which I put in 6th place in my vote for the forum's favourite Christmas number 3 single. I've noticed it's just appeared in the results countdown while I've been been posting this.

New Edition sounds like a Jacksons copy - was never a big fan of the song.

"Baby Jane" is a solid pop song I quite like and would turn the volume up when it comes on radio.

"Karma Chameleon" has definitely an annoying factor. Always found it a bit too cheesy. Would be behind "Baby Jane" for me. Culture Club have much better songs, particularly "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me".

Used to like Karma but it was overplayed on music channels when I was younger plus I find the 'Karma karma karma karma chamaeleon' lyric a bit cringey now.

Also its very poppy and I prefer the synth/new wave songs much better.

I even prefer Tracey Ullman's 60's bubblegum pop revival (via Kirsty McColl) song 'They Don't Know' to Karma Chamaeleon (which was at #2 for two of the Karma weeks)!

Edited Friday at 21:435 days by TheSnake

Fair assessment for 'Karma Chameleon' but I've always loved it personally. I would say 'Church Of The Poison Mind' I enjoy even more though and 'Do You Really Want To Hurt Me' of course!

Oh I really enjoy Karma Chameleon, I'd definitely have that a bit higher, certainly overplayed granted x I think the other two are fair placings, they definitely feel like they've aged the least well.

1983 definitely has some very ubiquitous number 1s so there wasn't a lot I wasn't already familiar with, they're all pretty overplayed but there are several deserved classics, interested to see which one you put on top x

I also don’t really enjoy “Karma Chameleon” but love “Victims”.

I’ve decided to go easier on Rod in 2026 as I don’t think he’s as bad as people make out. He’s a bit like Cliff - hit and miss with a lot of miss, but “Baby Jane” is good and I don’t mind the vocals. It will be outshined by most of what’s coming though I’m sure.

I think Karma Chameleon is okay but agree it can be on the annoying side.

I was going to say I’d place it higher (and I may still do so) but I’ve just checked the list of number ones for this year and there aren’t many I’d definitely rank below it. It’s a decent year!

14 hours ago, DaTilt said:

"Karma Chameleon" has definitely an annoying factor. Always found it a bit too cheesy. Would be behind "Baby Jane" for me. Culture Club have much better songs, particularly "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me".

Karma's parent album Colour By Numbers was huge too and is still a very good listen.

Edited Saturday at 11:065 days by CRAZY CHRIS