Gezza

76. DIRE STRAITS (1,660,649)

9 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS (360,000)

Undoubtedly featuring considerably higher on any album version of this list Dire Straits miss the top 75 here.  In truth apart from the “Brothers In Arms” era they rarely produced more than an occasional single but as the album became the biggest selling album of the 80s in the UK it was clear to see that the singles had done their work.  “Money For Nothing” was not only the first video to be played on MTV Europe when it was launched but was also a US chart topper and top 5 here.

77. THE PRETENDERS (1,651,900)

7 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: BRASS IN POCKET (401,000)

Chrissie Hynde survived Punk and set up The Pretenders in 1978, the following year the hits started and “Brass In Pocket” became the first new chart topper of the decade.  The band survived the death of two of its members in the early 80s although by the late 80s Hynde was effectively the only member of the band the others having left or been fired.

78. THE BEAT (1,641,600)

7 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: MIRROR IN THE BATHROOM (270,000)

Coming to the fore in the 2Tone craze of the late 70s/early 80s, this band were called “English Beat” in the US & Canada and “British Beat” in Australia due to the name already being in use in those countries. It contained two members who went on to form 2/3 of Fine Young Cannibals once the group disbanded in 1983.

79. ABC (1,624,200)

10 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: THE LOOK OF LOVE (428,000)

One of the big stars of the New Romantic movement (more through timing than visual appearance) the Sheffield band produced a trio of big hits in 1982 which saw their debut album “The Lexicon Of Love” come to be regarded as one of the quintessential albums of the decade.  They were helped by eye catching promo’s and the production hand of Trevor Horn (who was on fire the first half of the 80s).  Follow up era’s followed up the principle of diminishing returns as they jettisoned Horn in favour of other producers though 1987’s “When Smokey Sings” did almost return them to the top 10 and was a top 5 US hit.

80. GEORGE BENSON (1,623,500)

9 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: GIVE ME THE NIGHT (273,000)

Often overlooked in the cannon of 80s artists, Benson was a child prodigy starting to play in nighclubs when just 8 years old, he was a big name in Jazz circles by the 60s but a gradual move into MOR/Pop in the mid 70s really started to pay off here in 1980.  He was the original recorder of both “Greatest Love Of All” and “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You” which went on to become major hits for Whitney Houston and Glenn Medeiros later on in the decade.  As you can see he sold more than his fair share of records himself.

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

7 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: IT AIN’T WHAT YOU DO IT’S THE WAY THAT YOU DO IT (399,000)

After they broke away from the Specials Hall, Staple, and Golding formed the Fun Boy Three and proved that the hits could continue.  They helped a struggling Bananarama along by duetting on two singles in early 1982 but by 1983 the group had split.  Spoiler alert- this won’t be the last we hear from these boys!

82. TIGHT FIT (1,610,800)

4 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT (795,000)

Really a vehicle of Ken Gold who was a producer and wanted to get in on the medley craze of the early 80s, he was rewarded with a top 5 hit “Back To The 60s”.  He hired actors and models to promote the track but a follow up missed the top 20, fast forward a year and a cover of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” was again done by session singers and once again different actors/models were hired to promote the track and hit No 1.  And so it was that an entirely different set of people turned up to TOTP to “sing” the song.  No-one appeared to mind.

83. GARY NUMAN (1,602,700)

18 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: WE ARE GLASS (234,000)

Maybe not where electronic music began but certainly an early pioneer Numan entered the 80s as one of the biggest stars of 1979, he acquired a reputation for being rather dire and robotic on stage which made him a bit of a marmite act even by the early 80s. A declaration that he was retire from touring came early in 1981 but didn’t last.  He teamed up with Bill Sharpe (of Shakatak) to produce hits in the mid 80s but he never regained the magic of 79-80

84. NIK KERSHAW (1,594,200)

8 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: I WON’T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME (375,000)

Starting off with a string of 7 top 20 singles in a row, Kershaw was one of the big stars of 84, to the point where music fans poured over the lyrics of “The Riddle” to make it make sense!  Most famous after the 80s for writing Chesney Hawkes 1991 hit “The One And Only”.

85. THE STRANGLERS (1,577,600)

12 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: GOLDEN BROWN (552,000)

For a band that were told by their manager to disband in 1979 as they’d lost their creative direction, we have to be thankful that they took no notice.  They produced some of their biggest hits in the 80s including the glorious “Golden Brown” obviously, once frontman Cornwall left the band in 1990 the hits dried up but they remain one of the most innovative bands of the decade.

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

3 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: SWING THE MOOD (820,000)

BIGGEST SELLING ACT OF 1989

Proving the concept that the doing a medley was not old hat, this father and son duo threw some old tracks over an instrumental hit and used a cartoon Bunny to promote it and what do you know- we lapped it up in 1989!  They equalled the (then) record of three No 1 hits from their first 3 singles held at that point by Gerry & The Pacemakers and Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and they did it in just 4 months.  They also sold 1.5 million singles in that same time frame which was incredible bearing in mind the general poor sales during the year.  By 1991 we were bored .

87. DOLLAR (1,569,200)

6 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: MIRROR MIRROR (396,000)

Duo comprising former members of 70s pop group Guys N Dolls, they were initially successful in the late 70s but once again a change of image in 1980 proved unsuccessful and prompted the pair to approach producer Trevor Horn who helmed their hits in their most successful period (1981-1982) during which they were rarely off TOTP.  The pair were romantically involved in the 70s but had split by 1980, but that year they announced their engagement to generate publicity for that failed album- that was unearthed as a lie which didn’t help at all!  They split by 1983 with both attempting, and failing, to get a solo career and had reformed by the end of the 80s to cover Erasure’s “Oh L’Amour” which retuned them to the top 10 for one final time.  Van Day went on to remain in the public eye for the wrong reasons, running a burger van in Brighton and getting in legal wranglers over the use of the “Bucks Fizz” name as he was touring with a rival variation of the former group, he then ran into a highly publicised argument with Sonia on “Reborn In The USA”.

88. ALISON MOYET (1,554,000)

7 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: THAT OLE DEVIL CALLED LOVE (296,000)

So Moyet ends the 80s outselling Yazoo which I imagined would have pleased her at the time.  Post split she teamed up with Jolly & Swain (probably the most successful songwriting team of the early 80s) to give her a massive solo debut era with three top 30 hits.  Her biggest solo singer was a cover of the Billie Holiday track “This Ole Devil Called Love” which made No 2, her second album in 1987 contained another two top 10 singles but a gap of 4 years between albums from 1987 cost her a few rungs on the rundown.

89. KATE BUSH (1,542,700)

13 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: BABOOSHKA (267,000)

What more can be said about Kate Bush?  Well let’s just say that her long time lapses between albums probably affected her position here, in 1980 her second album “Never For Ever” became the first album by a British Female soloist to hit No 1 (let alone debut there) but second album “The Dreaming” in 1982 was poorly received due to the experimentation on it.  She returned to favour in 1985 with “Hounds Of Love” which contained 4 top 40 hits including “Running Up That Hill” which would eventually hit No 1 in 2022.  She is rightly revered as one of the most creative and innovative singers we’ve produced.

90. MODERN ROMANCE (1,541,000)

8 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (378,000)

Now largely forgotten these boys racked up considerable sales in the early 80s with happy party tunes “Ay Ay Ay Ay Moosey” and “Everybody Salsa”.  They changed their lead singer in 1982 to the far more photogenic Michael J Mullins and the hits continued until 1983 when an ill advised switch of image went down like a lead balloon and the hits dried up with the group going their separate ways in 1985.

91. TOYAH (1,540,900)

7 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: FOUR FROM TOYAH (370,000)

Another punk survivor the name of the band and the vocalist have become synonymous but “Toyah” was actually a group until 1984 when the lead singer Toyah Wilcox went solo and carried on using the same name (Sales on this list are split accordingly). Wilcox ran successful careers as an actress and a musician for much of the early 80s appearing in cult films “Jubilee” and “Quadrophenia” but the musical career really took off after she appeared in a TV show called “Shoestring” as a popstar that the band really took off with Wilcox as the focus of attention thanks to her startling appearance.  Wilcox’s solo career was only a middling success and she soon returned to film and TV presenting.

With hindsight it was the peak of the CD single era- a gentle decline hereon in......

Not sure if there was a TOTP on January 2nd so I've posted that chart here too as it belongs in 1997 saleswise. At any rate that rounds off TOTP repeats for the year. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the thread as we chalk another year off!

3RD JANUARY

1997 draws to an end with no new entries in the top 10.

The top 5 remain static so The Spice Girls get a second week at No 1 though sales are off slightly at 218,000 thanks in part to the launch of their movie and the fact that this week contains four days of sales pre Christmas.

The rest of the top 5 are therefore Teletubbies (150,000), Various Artists (137,000), All Saints (102,000) and Janet Jackson (91,000).

Slight movement at least in the lower half with Robbie Williams and Aqua swapping places at No’s 6 & 7 with sales of 88,000 and 60,000, Williams’ album “Life Thru A Lens” also reaches No 18 and is back in the top 20. Natalie Imbruglia holds at No 8 (60,000) as it moves over the 800,000 mark, Boyzone stick at No 9 (58,000) and Elton John returns to the top 10 moving 11-10 (54,000).

See you next week in 1998!

1- TOO MUCH- Spice Girls (218,000)
2- TELETUBBIES SAY EH-OH- Teletubbies (150,000)
3- PERFECT DAY- Various Artists (137,000)
4- NEVER EVER- All Saints (102,000)
5- TOGETHER AGAIN- Janet Jackson (91,000)
6- ANGELS- Robbie Williams (88,000)
7- BARBIE GIRL- Aqua (60,000)
8- TORN- Natalie Imbruglia (60,000)
9- BABY CAN I HOLD YOU/ SHOOTING STAR- Boyzone (58,000)
10- CANDLE IN THE WIND 97/ SOMETHING ABOUT THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT- Elton John (54,000)

27TH DECEMBER

The day has to come when the Spice Girls fail to make No 1…..but it won’t be with this release, yes just in time for Christmas the new Spice Girls record “Too Much” instantly tops the chart after shifting 252,000 copies to eager hands. With “Spice world- The Movie” opening on Boxing Day expect this to continue at the top, they don’t have it all their way though with the album “Spiceworld” stuck at No 2 behind Celine Dion but selling 186,000 copies nonetheless. The single becomes their 6th chart topper from six releases and means they now double the old record that was held originally by Gerry & The Pacemakers back in 1963. The promo incidentally pays homage to some of the girl’s favourites movies and naturally ties in with their own forthcoming film- ever an eye on marketing! They are also the first act to grab back to back Christmas No 1 singles since the Beatles back in the 60s though honourable mention must go to Cliff Richard who was No 1 in both 1988 and 1990 and featured on Band Aid II in 1989.

The top 10 is naturally slow at this time of year but in 1997 is bookended by new entries- The Spice Girls at No 1 and at No 10 US rapper Ma$e who is top 10 stateside with this track “Feel So Good” another slice of Puff Daddy co-written and produced music. The two main samples in the song come from Kool & The Gang (“Hollywood’s Swingin”) and Miami Sound Machine’s “Bad Boy” and is the fourth single of the year to feature the rapper having previously guested on tracks from Puff Daddy and Notorious B.I.G. The single sold a mighty 53,000 copies last week.

Teletubbies fall 1-2 with a sale of 203,000 the highest for the runner up position since Oasis’ “Roll With It” in 1995 and brings the song’s tally to 750,000 exactly. “Perfect Day” dips 2-3 (132,000) and the All Saints have a best week yet holding at No 4 on sales of 119,000 and there’s some re-arranging just beneath it. Janet Jackson is back up 6-5 (103,000), Aqua are down 3-6 (100,000) but they’ve improved their sales and get that record 9th week of six figure weekly sales, and Robbie Williams tumbles 5-7 (94,000). Natalie Imbruglia holds at No 8 (72,000) as Boyzone continue to descend 7-9 (64,000).



As a footnote the much touted Chicken Shed Theatre enters at No 15 with sales of 34,000 proving that the bookies don’t know it all.


1- TOO MUCH- Spice Girls (252,000)
2- TELETUBBIES SAY EH-OH- Teletubbies (203,000)
3- PERFECT DAY- Various Artists (132,000)
4- NEVER EVER- All Saints (119,000)
5- TOGETHER AGAIN- Janet Jackson (103,000)
6- BARBIE GIRL- Aqua (100,000)
7- ANGELS- Robbie Williams (94,000)
8- TORN- Natalie Imbruglia (72,000)
9- BABY CAN I HOLD YOU/ SHOOTING STAR- Boyzone (64,000)
10- FEEL SO GOOD- Ma$e (53,000)

92. YAZOO (1,473,900)

4 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: ONLY YOU (519,000)

Quite a few acts are on the list for shining very brightly for a short period of time.  One of them is Yazoo who lasted just 18 months giving us 2 albums and 4 singles.  Vince Clarke was of course famously in Depeche Mode prior to meeting to Alison Moyet and the pair also notoriously never got on during their time as a duo but both of them will be back later on in the rundown in different Guises.  Their work has proved popular though with a cover of “Only You” becoming the Christmas No 1 for 1983 in a cover by Flying Pickets and The Saturdays sampling another track “Situation” on their debut single “If This Is Love” in 2008.

93. THE BANGLES (1,473,300)

8 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: ETERNAL FLAME (490,000)

Formed in 1981 success didn’t come early for these girls whose first album didn’t generate any hits but did get the attention of Cyndi Lauper who gave them the opening slot on her US tour in 1984 as well as attracting a certain singer called Prince who took quite a shine to lead singer Susanna Hoffs.  He gave them the song “Manic Monday” which he wrote and bingo a No 2 hit on both sides of the Atlantic.  The hits started to flow culminating in the chart topping “Eternal Flame” which spent a month at the top here in 1989 but the band split by the end of that year over friction caused by the media in promoting Hoffs as the “lead singer” and highlighting her in interviews and profiles.

94.  BROS (1,456,800)

8 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: I OWE YOU NOTHING (278,000)

If success could be measured by the amount of screaming young female fans then Bros in 1988 were in a league of their own.  They sold a million singles in that year alone thanks to their good looks and the power of TOTP and smash hits magazine, but the wheels started to come off in 1989 when a second album underperformed, Craig Logan left, and girls moved on to New Kids On The Block.  They reformed in 2017 to perform some concerts and had a successful documentary “After The Screaming Stops”.  Logan had the last laugh becoming head of RCA records between 2006 and 2010 as well as writing hits for Kim Appleby.

95. THE COMMUNARDS (1,429,000)

8 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: DON’T LEAVE ME THIS WAY (694,000)

Bronski Beat don’t quite make this list (they sold 1.25 million) but Jimmy Somerville’s next project did even better in the main down to a fortuitous choice of the covers they did which make up the majority of their sales.  Somerville created the act with Richard Coles in 1985 (Coles actually played the clarinet on the Bronski Beat single “It Ain’t Necessarily So”) and they parted ways in 1988 with Somerville going solo and Cole becoming an Anglican vicar and TV personality.  The two common backing vocalists for the group went on to become Banderas who had a top 20 hit themselves in 1991 with “This Is Your Life”.   Not bad sales for 3 years together!

96. IRENE CARA (1,420,600)

2 TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST SELLER: FAME (985,000)

Another tale of Child star who landed roles in Broadway shows then moved into TV before getting a role in a major film.  That film was “Fame” which was a moderate success and saw the theme track of the same name win an academy award for best original track as well as making at No 4 in the US chart.  Its success was more muted in the UK where the single flopped but when the film spawned a TV series in 1982 it was a different story, the show became a phenomenon in the US and started to get hyped in the UK leading the track to get a re-issue and top the charts.  Cara herself appeared in the film didn’t feature in the TV show choosing to concentrate on film which generated her other main hit “Flashdance”.