| 1980s in music in the UK |
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This is a summary of 1985 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
The biggest British musical event of 1985 was the Live Aid concert in London's Wembley Stadium on 13 July. Held to follow up the previous year's charity record "Do They Know It's Christmas?", the biggest-selling single ever at the time, popular acts such as The Who, U2 and Queen performed in front of an estimated audience of 1.9 billion viewers. It raised £150 million to help famine in Ethiopia, and a similar event would happen 20 years later in 2005, with Live 8.
After the huge success of Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?", several more charity songs reached number 1 this year. USA for Africa, inspired by Band Aid, released "We Are the World", a song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, while David Bowie and Mick Jagger released a cover of "Dancing in the Street", the music video being premiered at Live Aid and all proceeds going to the charity. In May, a fire at a football stadium in Bradford killed 56 people, and supergroup The Crowd released a charity cover of popular football anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" in tribute.
British rock band Dire Straits released their album Brothers in Arms in May, one of the first ever albums to be released on compact disc and the format's first million-seller. [1] It went on to become the UK's best-selling album of the entire decade and remains one of the top ten best-selling albums of all time in the UK. Four singles were released from the album, including the UK number 4 hit and US number 1 "Money for Nothing", which referenced American music channel MTV and had a groundbreaking video featuring early computer-generated imagery. When a European version of MTV launched in 1987, it was the first video ever played on the channel.
Jennifer Rush entered the top 75 in June with the power ballad "The Power of Love", which remained in the chart for months without entering the top 40. When it finally did in September, it quickly hit number 1, where it remained for five weeks and was the biggest selling single of the year. It sold over a million copies, however it would be the last single of the decade to do so, and there would not be another million-seller until 1991.
Many songs this year competed for the Christmas number one single, and the entire top 3 from 1984 re-entered the chart this year; Paul McCartney's "We All Stand Together" at number 32, Wham!'s "Last Christmas" at number 6, and Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" at number 3. There were also attempts from Bruce Springsteen with a cover of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", and ventriloquist Keith Harris released a cover of "White Christmas" with his green puppet Orville the Duck.
However, the Christmas number one went to Shakin' Stevens with the song "Merry Christmas Everyone". It had been intended to be released in 1984, but was kept back a year due to the Band Aid charity single. Still a widely known Christmas song in the 21st century, it re-entered the chart in Christmas 2007 on downloads alone, at number 22.
John Rutter, hitherto best known for his popular modern carols, acknowledged his classical roots with his Requiem , which was premièred in October in Sacramento, California. Less than eight months earlier, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem had its première in New York. Paul Miles-Kingston, the boy soprano who won a silver disc for his recording of the "Pie Jesu" from that work, became Head Chorister of Winchester Cathedral in the same year. The prolific Peter Maxwell Davies (who had moved to Orkney in 1971) produced one of his most popular works, An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise , notable for featuring the bagpipes as a lead instrument, as well as the Symphony No 3, which like its predecessors shows the influence of Sibelius. Veteran Welsh composer Daniel Jones, produced his 12th symphony, at the age of 73, whilst 80-year-old Michael Tippett began work on his last opera, New Year .
| Chart date (week ending) | Album | Artist(s) | Weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 January | Hits 1 | Various Artists | 2 |
| 12 January | |||
| 19 January | Alf | Alison Moyet | 1 |
| 26 January | Agent Provocateur | Foreigner | 3 |
| 2 February | |||
| 9 February | |||
| 16 February | Born in the U.S.A. | Bruce Springsteen | 1 |
| 23 February | Meat Is Murder | The Smiths | 1 |
| 2 March | No Jacket Required | Phil Collins | 5 |
| 9 March | |||
| 16 March | |||
| 23 March | |||
| 30 March | |||
| 6 April | The Secret of Association | Paul Young | 1 |
| 13 April | Hits 2 | Various Artists | 6 |
| 20 April | |||
| 27 April | |||
| 4 May | |||
| 11 May | |||
| 18 May | |||
| 25 May | Brothers in Arms | Dire Straits | 2 |
| 1 June | |||
| 8 June | Our Favourite Shop | The Style Council | 1 |
| 15 June | Boys and Girls | Bryan Ferry | 2 |
| 22 June | |||
| 29 June | Misplaced Childhood | Marillion | 1 |
| 6 July | Born in the U.S.A. | Bruce Springsteen | 4 |
| 13 July | |||
| 20 July | |||
| 27 July | |||
| 3 August | Brothers in Arms | Dire Straits | 2 |
| 10 August | |||
| 17 August | Now 5 | Various Artists | 5 |
| 24 August | |||
| 31 August | |||
| 7 September | |||
| 14 September | |||
| 21 September | Like a Virgin | Madonna | 1 |
| 28 September | Hounds of Love | Kate Bush | 2 |
| 5 October | |||
| 12 October | Like a Virgin | Madonna | 1 |
| 19 October | Hounds of Love | Kate Bush | 1 |
| 26 October | The Love Songs | George Benson | 1 |
| 2 November | Once Upon a Time | Simple Minds | 1 |
| 10 November | The Love Songs | George Benson | 1 |
| 16 November | Promise | Sade | 2 |
| 23 November | |||
| 30 November | The Greatest Hits of 1985 | Various Artists | 1 |
| 7 December | Now 6 | 2 | |
| 14 December | |||
| 21 December | Now – The Christmas Album | 2 | |
| 28 December |
Based on sales from 5 January to 28 December 1985. [4] [5]
Based on sales from 5 January to 28 December 1985. [6] [7]
Notes:
The 1985 Brit Awards winners were:
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1984.
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1985.
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This is a summary of 1996 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
This is a summary of 1995 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
This is a summary of 1994 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
This is a summary of 1991 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
This is a summary of 1990 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
This is a summary of 1989 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
This is a summary of 1982 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
This is a summary of 1983 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
This is a summary of 1988 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
This is a summary of 1987 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
This is a summary of 1986 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
This is a summary of 1984 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
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This is a summary of 1978 in music in the United Kingdom.
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