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WOW's Top 20 Singles from 1983

THE GOLDEN YEARS

Featured Year...

Indulge in a little nostalgia. Rewind to 1977 and relive the music and events that defined the year.

IN CONVERSATION
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Biggest Singles 1978

The UK's Top 40 best-performing singles in 1978 are listed below. They are ordered by their Chart Measured Performance (CHAMP) scores. A single's peak position and the month it peaked are also provided. The Bee Gees and The Boomtown Rats have their best performing singles of the Golden Years (1977-85). Le Freak (No. 17) is Atlantic Records' biggest selling single to date (7 million copies worldwide) but remarkably it is not the best performing No. 7 (see 1984). Darts have three entries in our year-end chart with their three No. 2 singles. Dreadlock Holiday (No. 10) is the biggest reggae hit of the Golden Years, while the Smurf Song is the biggest novelty record.

– ➈ NME peak position (if different from official chart)

Peak Month Peak CHAMP
1 RIVERS OF BABYLON / BROWN GIRL IN THE RING Boney M May 1 3,196
2 YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANTJohn Travolta And Olivia Newton-John June 1 2,930
3 NIGHT FEVERThe Bee Gees April 1 1,868
4 SUMMER NIGHTSJohn Travolta And Olivia Newton-John September 3 1,846
5 THREE TIMES A LADYThe Commodores August 1 1,639
6 SMURF SONGFather Abraham And The Smurfs June 2 1,554
7 RAT TRAPThe Boomtown Rats November 1 1,515
8 WUTHERING HEIGHTSKate Bush March 1 1,445
9 TAKE A CHANCE ON MEABBA February 1 1,424
10 MATCHSTALK MEN AND MATCHSTALK CATS AND DOGSBrian And Michael April 1 1,408
11 DREADLOCK HOLIDAY10cc September 1 1,361
12 DENISBlondie March 2 1,305
13 LOVE'S UNKINDDonna Summer January 3 1,294
14 SUBSTITUTEClout August 2 1,289
15 BAKER STREETGerry Rafferty March 3 1,283
16 MARY'S BOY CHILDBoney M December 1 1,244
17 COME BACK MY LOVEDarts March 2 1,237
18 LE FREAKChic December 7 1,206
19 DA 'YA' THINK I'M SEXY?Rod Stewart December 1 1,199
20 BOOGIE OOGIE OOGIEA Taste Of Honey August 3 1,174
21 DANCIN' IN THE CITYMarshall Hain July 3 1,171
22 WISHING ON A STARRose Royce March 3 1,164
23 UPTOWN TOP RANKINGAlthia And Donna February 1 1,128
24 TOO MUCH TOO LITTLE TOO LATEJohnny Mathis And Deniece Williams May 3 1,126
25 FIGAROBrotherhood Of Man February 1 1,122
26 IT'S A HEARTACHEBonnie Tyler January 4 1,095
27 NEVER LET HER SLIP AWAYAndrew Gold May 5 1,093
28 THE BOY FROM NEW YORK CITYDarts June 2 1,086
29 TOO MUCH HEAVENThe Bee Gees December 3 1,081
30 IF YOU CAN'T GIVE ME LOVESuzi Quatro April 4 1,042
31 SANDYJohn Travolta November 2 1,031
32 RASPUTINBoney M October 2 1,019
33 IT'S RAININGDarts September 2 1,015
34 A TASTE OF AGGROThe Barron Knights December 3 1,002
35 DON'T IT MAKE MY BROWN EYES BLUECrystal Gayle January 5 976
36 ANNIE'S SONGJames Galway July 3 962
37 I WONDER WHYShowaddywaddy April 2 958
38 JILTED JOHNJilted John September 4 953
39 MR. BLUE SKYElectric Light Orchestra February 6 947
40 LUCKY STARSDean Friedman October 3 946

Chart © Wow Vinyl 2023

– ➈ NME peak position (if different from official chart)

Part of the chart run was in 1977 or 1979, which has been included in calculating the CHAMP score


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