1980s in music in the UK |
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This is a summary of 1981 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
Issue Date | Song | Artist(s) |
---|---|---|
3 January | "There's No One Quite Like Grandma" | St Winifred's School Choir |
10 January | "Imagine" | John Lennon |
17 January | ||
24 January | ||
31 January | ||
7 February | "Woman" | |
14 February | ||
21 February | "Shaddap You Face" | Joe Dolce Music Theatre |
28 February | ||
7 March | ||
14 March | "Jealous Guy" | Roxy Music |
21 March | ||
28 March | "This Ole House" | Shakin' Stevens |
4 April | ||
11 April | ||
18 April | "Making Your Mind Up" | Bucks Fizz |
25 April | ||
2 May | ||
9 May | "Stand and Deliver" | Adam and the Ants |
16 May | ||
23 May | ||
30 May | ||
6 June | ||
13 June | "Being with You" | Smokey Robinson |
20 June | ||
27 June | "One Day in Your Life" | Michael Jackson |
4 July | ||
11 July | "Ghost Town" | The Specials |
18 July | ||
25 July | ||
1 August | "Green Door" | Shakin' Stevens |
8 August | ||
15 August | ||
22 August | ||
29 August | "Japanese Boy" | Aneka |
5 September | "Tainted Love" | Soft Cell |
12 September | ||
19 September | "Prince Charming" | Adam and the Ants |
26 September | ||
3 October | ||
10 October | ||
17 October | "It's My Party" | Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin |
24 October | ||
31 October | ||
7 November | ||
14 November | "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" | The Police |
21 November | "Under Pressure" | Queen and David Bowie |
28 November | ||
5 December | "Begin the Beguine" | Julio Iglesias |
12 December | "Don't You Want Me" | The Human League |
19 December | ||
26 December |
Issue Date | Title | Artist(s) |
---|---|---|
3 January | Super Trouper | ABBA |
10 January | ||
17 January | ||
24 January | Kings of the Wild Frontier | Adam and the Ants |
31 January | ||
7 February | Double Fantasy | John Lennon and Yoko Ono |
14 February | ||
21 February | Face Value | Phil Collins |
28 February | ||
7 March | ||
14 March | Kings of the Wild Frontier | Adam and the Ants |
21 March | ||
28 March | ||
4 April | ||
11 April | ||
18 April | ||
25 April | ||
2 May | ||
9 May | ||
16 May | ||
23 May | Stars on 45 | Starsound |
30 May | ||
6 June | ||
13 June | ||
20 June | ||
27 June | No Sleep 'til Hammersmith | Motörhead |
4 July | Disco Daze and Disco Nites | Various Artists |
11 July | Love Songs | Cliff Richard |
18 July | ||
25 July | ||
1 August | ||
8 August | ||
15 August | The Official BBC Album of the Royal Wedding | Various Artists |
22 August | ||
29 August | Time | Electric Light Orchestra |
5 September | ||
12 September | Dead Ringer | Meat Loaf |
19 September | ||
26 September | Abacab | Genesis |
3 October | ||
10 October | Ghost in the Machine | The Police |
17 October | ||
24 October | ||
31 October | Dare | The Human League |
7 November | Shaky | Shakin' Stevens |
14 November | Greatest Hits | Queen |
21 November | ||
28 November | ||
5 December | ||
12 December | Chart Hits '81 | Various Artists |
19 December | The Visitors | ABBA |
26 December |
The tables below include sales between 1 January and 31 December 1981: the year-end charts reproduced in the issue of Music Week dated 26 December 1981 and played on Radio 1 on 3 January 1982 only include sales figures up until 12 December 1981.
At the end of 1981, the official year-end charts provided by the UK's chart provider, the British Market Research Bureau, stated that the best-selling single of the year was "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell. [1] [2] However, in March 2021, the Official Charts Company announced that new research had shown that "Don't You Want Me" by the Human League, previously thought to be the year's 21st-biggest seller, was in fact the biggest-selling single of 1981 with over one million sales, and the year-end charts were adjusted accordingly. [3]
Notes:
Robert Eugene Ward was an American composer who is best remembered for his opera The Crucible (1961) after the 1953 play of the same name by Arthur Miller. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music for that opera in 1962.
John Harris Harbison is an American composer and academic.
John Nicholas Maw was a British composer. Among his works are the operas The Rising of the Moon (1970) and Sophie's Choice (2002).
Walter Sinclair Hartley was an American composer of contemporary classical music.
Geoffrey Alan Burgon was an English composer best known for his television and film scores. Among his most recognisable works are Monty Python's Life of Brian for film, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Brideshead Revisited for television, the latter two earning Ivor Novello Awards in 1979 and 1981 respectively. He also won BAFTAs for his themes for the remake of The Forsyte Saga and Longitude.
This is a summary of 1982 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
Stephen Rowley Montague is an American composer, pianist and conductor who grew up in Idaho, New Mexico, West Virginia and Florida.
This is a summary of 1983 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
Raymond Wilding-White ; was an American composer of contemporary classical music and electronic music, and a photographer/digital artist.
Frigyes Hidas was a Hungarian composer.
This is a summary of 1984 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
This is a summary of 1980 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
Stefans Grové was a South African composer. Before his death the following assessment was made of him: "He is regarded by many as Africa's greatest living composer, possesses one of the most distinctive compositional voices of our time".
Iain Ellis Hamilton was a Scottish composer.
David Frederick Stock was an American composer and conductor.
Gary Alan Kulesha is a Canadian composer, pianist, conductor, and educator. Since 1995, he has been Composer Advisor to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He has been Composer-in-Residence with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony (1988–1992) and the Canadian Opera Company (1993–1995). He was awarded the National Arts Centre Orchestra Composer Award in 2002.
Wayne Brewster Barlow was an American composer of classical music. He was also a professor of music, organist, and choir director.
Curtis Curtis-Smith, better known as C. Curtis-Smith or C.C. Smith, was a modernist American composer and pianist.