List of Billboard 200 number-one albums of 1983

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Michael Jackson's sixth album Thriller spent twenty-two weeks at number one, sold more than fifteen million copies to become the best-selling album of 1983, and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Michael Jackson 1984.jpg
Michael Jackson's sixth album Thriller spent twenty-two weeks at number one, sold more than fifteen million copies to become the best-selling album of 1983, and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

The Billboard 200, published in Billboard magazine, is a weekly chart that ranks the highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States. In 1983, the name of the chart was Top LPs & Tape. Before Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991, Billboard estimated sales from a representative sampling of record stores nationwide, using telephone, fax or messenger service. [1] Data were based on rankings made by the record stores of the best-selling records, not on actual sales figures. [2] [3]

Contents

There were six number-one albums on this chart in 1983, including the debut album of the Australian band Men at Work, Business as Usual , which spent the last seven weeks of 1982 and the first eight weeks of 1983 at number one, and was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1984. [4] Thriller , the sixth studio album by recording artist Michael Jackson, was released on November 1982. It peaked at number one for twenty-two non-consecutive weeks in 1983 with another fifteen consecutive weeks at the top into the following year, and seven songs from the album became top ten singles between late 1982 and early 1984. [5] Two of them: "Billie Jean" and "Beat It", reached the top position of the Billboard Hot 100. [6] [7] Thriller won eight Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year at the 26th Grammy Awards, [8] and was the best-selling album of 1983 with more than fifteen million copies sold. [9] In 2008, twenty-five years after its release, the record was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and a few weeks later, it was among twenty-five recordings preserved by the Library of Congress to the National Recording Registry as "culturally significant". [10] [11]

Flashdance , the soundtrack to the 1983 musical and romance film of the same name, peaked at number one for two weeks and won the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture. [12] The two singles released from the album, "Flashdance... What a Feeling" by Irene Cara, and "Maniac" by Michael Sembello, reached the top of the singles chart in 1983. [13] [14] The New York Times considered the British band The Police to be the year's most influential rock band. Australian, British, and American bands copied the white-reggae formula of their (The Police's) earlier successes. [9] The group released their fifth and final studio album, Synchronicity , in 1983. The album, a varied accomplished blend of rock, funk, and third-world rhythms, [9] stayed at number one for seventeen weeks and was certified four times platinum by the RIAA in 1984. [4] Metal Health , the third album by heavy metal band Quiet Riot, peaked at number one for one week, becoming the first heavy metal record to reach the top of the Billboard 200. [15] Singer-songwriter Lionel Richie released his second album Can't Slow Down in 1983, which spent three weeks at the top and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the 27th Grammy Awards. [16]

Chart history

Key
Dagger-14-plain.pngIndicates best performing album of 1983
Issue dateAlbumArtist(s)LabelRef.
January 1 Business as Usual Men at Work Columbia [17]
January 8 [18]
January 15 [19]
January 22 [20]
January 29 [21]
February 5 [22]
February 12 [23]
February 19 [24]
February 26 Thriller Michael Jackson Epic [25]
March 5 [26]
March 12 [27]
March 19 [28]
March 26 [29]
April 2 [30]
April 9 [31]
April 16 [32]
April 23 [33]
April 30 [34]
May 7 [35]
May 14 [36]
May 21 [37]
May 28 [38]
June 4 [39]
June 11 [40]
June 18 [41]
June 25 Flashdance Soundtrack Casablanca [42]
July 2 [43]
July 9ThrillerMichael JacksonEpic [44]
July 16 [45]
July 23 Synchronicity The Police A&M [46]
July 30 [47]
August 6 [48]
August 13 [49]
August 20 [50]
August 27 [51]
September 3 [52]
September 10ThrillerMichael JacksonEpic [53]
September 17SynchronicityThe PoliceA&M [54]
September 24 [55]
October 1 [56]
October 8 [57]
October 15 [58]
October 22 [59]
October 29 [60]
November 5 [61]
November 12 [62]
November 19 [63]
November 26 Metal Health Quiet Riot Pasha [64]
December 3 Can't Slow Down Lionel Richie Motown [65]
December 10 [66]
December 17 [67]
December 24ThrillerMichael JacksonEpic [68]
December 31 [69]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Ropin' the Charts SoundScan System Good for Music and for Listeners ..." The Fresno Bee . The McClatchy Company. December 29, 1991. Retrieved on January 21, 2009.
  2. ↑ Holden, Stephen (June 22, 1991). "Billboard's New Charts Roil the Record Industry". The New York Times . Retrieved on January 21, 2009.
  3. ↑ Goldstein, Patrick (September 21, 1991). "Hype, Hokey-Pokey and the Hot 100". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved on January 21, 2009.
  4. 1 2 "Gold & Platinum". Recording Industry Association of America. 1984. Archived from the original on June 26, 2007. Retrieved January 17, 2009.
  5. ↑ Cocks, Jay (March 19, 1984). "Why He's a Thriller". Time . Time Warner, Inc. Archived from the original on March 21, 2007. Retrieved January 17, 2009.
  6. ↑ "The Billboard Hot 100: Week of Mar 05, 1983". Billboard . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. March 5, 1983. Retrieved December 16, 2010.
  7. ↑ "The Billboard Hot 100: Week of Apr 30, 1983". Billboard . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. April 30, 1983. Retrieved December 16, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Grammy Awards Winners: Thriller". The Recording Academy . Retrieved January 17, 2009.
  9. 1 2 3 Palmer, Robert (December 25, 1983). "Energy and Creativity added up to Exciting Pop". The New York Times . Retrieved on January 17, 2009.
  10. ↑ "2008 Grammy Hall of Fame" (PDF). The Recording Academy. 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 16, 2008. Retrieved January 17, 2009.
  11. ↑ "Thriller, Joni Mitchell album make the cut for US recording registry". CBC News. May 14, 2008. Retrieved on May 17, 2008.
  12. ↑ "Grammy Awards Winners: Flashdance". The Recording Academy . Retrieved January 17, 2009.
  13. ↑ "The Billboard Hot 100: Week of May 28, 1983". Billboard . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. May 28, 1983. Retrieved December 16, 2010.
  14. ↑ "The Billboard Hot 100: Week of Sep 10, 1983". Billboard . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 10, 1983. Retrieved December 16, 2010.
  15. ↑ Rivadavia, Eduardo; Franck, J. "Album Review: Metal Health". Allmusic . Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved January 19, 2009.
  16. ↑ "Grammy Awards Winners: Can't Slow Down". The Recording Academy . Retrieved January 17, 2009.
  17. ↑ "January 1, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  18. ↑ "January 8, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  19. ↑ "January 15, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  20. ↑ "January 22, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  21. ↑ "January 29, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  22. ↑ "February 5, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  23. ↑ "February 12, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  24. ↑ "February 19, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  25. ↑ "February 26, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  26. ↑ "March 5, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  27. ↑ "March 12, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  28. ↑ "March 19, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  29. ↑ "March 26, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  30. ↑ "April 2, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  31. ↑ "April 9, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  32. ↑ "April 16, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  33. ↑ "April 23, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  34. ↑ "April 30, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  35. ↑ "May 7, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  36. ↑ "May 14, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  37. ↑ "May 21, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  38. ↑ "May 28, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  39. ↑ "June 4, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  40. ↑ "June 11, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  41. ↑ "June 18, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  42. ↑ "June 25, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  43. ↑ "July 2, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  44. ↑ "July 9, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  45. ↑ "July 16, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  46. ↑ "July 23, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  47. ↑ "July 30, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  48. ↑ "August 6, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  49. ↑ "August 13, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  50. ↑ "August 20, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  51. ↑ "August 27, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  52. ↑ "September 3, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  53. ↑ "September 10, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  54. ↑ "September 17, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  55. ↑ "September 24, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  56. ↑ "October 1, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  57. ↑ "October 8, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  58. ↑ "October 15, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  59. ↑ "October 22, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  60. ↑ "October 29, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  61. ↑ "November 5, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  62. ↑ "November 12, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  63. ↑ "November 19, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  64. ↑ "November 26, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  65. ↑ "December 3, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  66. ↑ "December 10, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  67. ↑ "December 17, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  68. ↑ "December 24, 1983". Billboard 200 .
  69. ↑ "December 31, 1983". Billboard 200 .
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