These are the UK Official Indie Chart number-one hits of the 1980s, as compiled by MRIB. [1]
| Date first reached number one | Song | Artist | Label | Duration [2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 January | "Where's Captain Kirk?" | Spizzenergi | Rough Trade | 7 weeks |
| 8 March | "Food for Thought" / King | UB40 | Graduate | 12 weeks |
| 31 May | "Bloody Revolutions" | Crass | Crass | 5 weeks |
| 5 July | "Love Will Tear Us Apart" | Joy Division | Factory | 10* weeks |
| 30 August | "Paranoid" | Black Sabbath | NEMS | 5* weeks |
| 13 September | Can't Cheat Karma (EP) | Zounds | Crass | 2 weeks |
| 18 October | "Requiem" | Killing Joke | E.G. | 1 week |
| 25 October | "Atmosphere" | Joy Division | Factory | 2 weeks |
| 8 November | "Kill the Poor" | Dead Kennedys | Cherry Red | 1 week |
| 15 November | "The Earth Dies Screaming" / "Dream a Lie" | UB40 | Graduate | 5* weeks |
| 6 December | Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers (EP) | Motörhead | Big Beat | 1 week |
| 27 December | "Cartrouble" | Adam and the Ants | Do It | 7* weeks |
| Date first reached number one | Song | Artist | Label | Duration [2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 January | "Zerox" | Adam and the Ants | Do It | 3 weeks |
| 7 March | "Nagasaki Nightmare" | Crass | Crass | 2 weeks |
| 21 March | "Ceremony" | New Order | Factory | 3 weeks |
| 11 April | Four from Toyah (EP) | Toyah | Safari | 3 weeks |
| 2 May | "Dreaming of Me" | Depeche Mode | Mute | 1 week |
| 9 May | Why (EP) | Discharge | Clay | 2 weeks |
| 23 May | "I Want To Be Free" | Toyah | Safari | 1 week |
| 30 May | "Don't Let It Pass You By / Don't Slow Down" | UB40 | DEP International | 1 week |
| 6 June | "Too Drunk to Fuck" | Dead Kennedys | Cherry Red | 5 weeks |
| 11 July | "New Life" | Depeche Mode | Mute | 7 weeks |
| 29 August | "One in Ten" | UB40 | DEP International | 4 weeks |
| 26 September | "Just Can't Get Enough" | Depeche Mode | Mute | 2 weeks |
| 10 October | "Procession" | New Order | Factory | 3 weeks |
| 31 October | "Thunder in the Mountains" | Toyah | Safari | 4 weeks |
| 28 November | "Six Guns" | Anti-Pasti | Rondelet | 1 week |
| 5 December | Four More From Toyah (EP) | Toyah | Safari | 5* weeks |
| 19 December | "Don't Let 'Em Grind You Down" | The Exploited & Anti-Pasti | Exploited | 1 week |
| Date first reached number one | Song | Artist | Label | Duration [2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 January | "Streets of London" | Anti-Nowhere League | WXYZ | 2 weeks |
| 30 January | "Do You Believe in the Westworld?" | Theatre of Hate | Burning Rome | 2 weeks |
| 13 February | "See You" | Depeche Mode | Mute | 7 weeks |
| 3 April | "I Hate People" | Anti-Nowhere League | WXYZ | 2 weeks |
| 17 April | "Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag" | Pigbag | Y | 4 weeks |
| 15 May | "Only You" | Yazoo | Mute | 5 weeks |
| 19 June | "Temptation" | New Order | Factory | 3 weeks |
| 10 July | "Woman" | Anti-Nowhere League | WXYZ | 2 weeks |
| 24 July | "Don't Go" | Yazoo | Mute | 8 weeks |
| 18 September | "Leave in Silence" | Depeche Mode | Mute | 6 weeks |
| 30 October | "Shipbuilding" | Robert Wyatt | Rough Trade | 3* weeks |
| 6 November | "How Does It Feel to Be the Mother of 1000 Dead?" | Crass | Crass | 3 weeks |
| 27 November | "The Other Side of Love" | Yazoo | Mute | 4 weeks |
| 25 December | "Save Your Love" | Renée and Renato | Hollywood | 3 weeks |
| Date first reached number one | Song | Artist | Label | Duration [2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 January | "Fat Man" | Southern Death Cult | Situation Two | 2 weeks |
| 29 January | "Heartache Avenue" | The Maisonettes | Ready Steady Go! | 3 weeks |
| 19 February | "Oblivious" | Aztec Camera | Rough Trade | 2 weeks |
| 12 March | "Get the Balance Right!" | Depeche Mode | Mute Records | 2 weeks |
| 26 March | "Blue Monday" | New Order | Factory | 13* weeks |
| 11 June | "Nobody's Diary" | Yazoo | Mute | 1 week |
| 18 June | "Pills and Soap" | The Imposter (Elvis Costello) | F-Beat | 2 weeks |
| 2 July | "Sheep Farming in the Falklands" | Crass | Crass | 2 weeks |
| 16 July | "War Baby" | Tom Robinson | Panic | 3 weeks |
| 6 August | "Everything Counts" | Depeche Mode | Mute | 5 weeks |
| 10 September | "Confusion" | New Order | Factory | 4 weeks |
| 5 November | "Temple of Love" | The Sisters of Mercy | Merciful Release | 1 week |
| 26 November | "This Charming Man" | The Smiths | Rough Trade | 7* weeks |
| 3 December | "Never Never" | The Assembly | Mute | 2 weeks |
| Date first reached number one | Song | Artist | Label | Duration [2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 January | "Into the Groove(y)" | Ciccone Youth | Blast First | 1 week |
| 10 January | "Kiss" | Age of Chance | FON | 3 weeks |
| 31 January | "Shoplifters of the World Unite" | The Smiths | Rough Trade | 4 weeks |
| 28 February | "It Doesn't Have to Be" | Erasure | Mute | 8 weeks |
| 25 April | "Sheila Take a Bow" | The Smiths | Rough Trade | 3 weeks |
| 16 May | "Nosedive Karma" | Gaye Bykers on Acid | In Tape | 3 weeks |
| 6 June | "Victim of Love" | Erasure | Mute | 2 weeks |
| 20 June | "Can't Take No More" | The Soup Dragons | Raw TV | 4 weeks |
| 18 July | "Flowers in Our Hair" | All About Eve | Eden | 2 weeks |
| 1 August | "True Faith" | New Order | Factory | 3 weeks |
| 22 August | "Girlfriend in a Coma" | The Smiths | Rough Trade | 2 weeks |
| 5 September | "Pump Up the Volume" | M/A/R/R/S | 4AD | 7 weeks |
| 24 October | "Blue Water" | Fields of the Nephilim | Situation Two | 2 weeks |
| 7 November | "My Baby Just Cares for Me" | Nina Simone | Charly | 5 weeks |
| 12 December | "Touched by the Hand of God" | New Order | Factory | 6 weeks |