Biggest Artists 1979
The UK's Top 20 best-performing artists in 1979 are listed below. It was a two horse race this year with ABBA's five Top 10 hits (including an unofficial No. 1) edging out Blondie. Had Union City Blue done a little better, the US group would have secured the No. 1 spot. The Sex Pistols had their best year - and achieved the highest placing of any punk group in our yearly charts. The Police enter for the first time - and will end up as one of the biggest artists of the Golden Years (1977-85).
Artists are ranked by their Chart-Measured Performance (CHAMP) totals for the year. Singles are listed per artist in chronological order (from left to right) with a symbol denoting peak position. Key to icons: ★No. 1 ●Top Ten ○Top 40 (all on official chart) ☆Unofficial No. 1 (i.e. No. 1 only on NME Chart)
WKS: total weeks spent on the official Top 40
| WKS | CHAMP | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ABBA☆Chiquitita ●Does Your Mother Know ●Angel Eyes/Voulez-Vous ●Gimme Gimme Gimme ●I Have A Dream | 40 | 4,071 |
| 2 | BLONDIE★Heart Of Glass ★Sunday Girl ●Dreaming ○Union City Blue | 36 | 3,935 |
| 3 | THE POLICE○Roxanne ●Can't Stand Losing You ★Message In A Bottle ★Walking On The Moon | 31 | 3,373 |
| 4 | GARY NUMAN★Are 'Friends' Electric?1 ★Cars ●Complex | 27 | 3,154 |
| 5 | EARTH WIND AND FIRE●September ●Boogie Wonderland2 ●After The Love Has Gone ●Star | 25 | 3,122 |
| 6 | VILLAGE PEOPLE★YMCA ☆In The Navy ○Go West | 27 | 3,020 |
| 7 | ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA●Shine A Little Love ●The Diary Of Horace Wimp ●Don’t Bring Me Down ●Last Train To London/Confusion | 31 | 2,424 |
| 8 | RACEY●Lay Your Love On Me ●Some Girls ○Boy Oh Boy | 27 | 2,344 |
| 9 | SEX PISTOLS●Something Else ●Silly Thing ●C’Mon Everybody ○The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle | 29 | 2,236 |
| 10 | THE THREE DEGREES●Women In Love ●My Simple Heart ●The Runner | 26 | 2,129 |
| 11 | ROXY MUSIC○Trash ☆Dance Away ●Angel Eyes | 21 | 2,061 |
| 12 | SQUEEZE●Cool For Cats ●Up The Junction ○Slap And Tickle | 23 | 2,055 |
| 13 | ART GARFUNKEL★Bright Eyes | 14 | 1,860 |
| 14 | CHIC●I Want Your Love ●Good Times ○My Forbidden Lover | 23 | 1,847 |
| 15 | THE BOOMTOWN RATS★I Don’t Like Mondays ○Diamond Smiles | 17 | 1,830 |
| 16 | CLIFF RICHARD★We Don’t Talk Anymore | 14 | 1,725 |
| 17 | BONEY M●Painter Man ●Hooray Hooray It’s A Holi- Holiday ○Gotta Go Home | 22 | 1,698 |
| 18 | DR HOOK★When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman | 14 | 1,691 |
| 19 | QUEEN●Don’t Stop Me Now ●Crazy Little Thing Called Love | 22 | 1,661 |
| 20 | GLORIA GAYNOR★I Will Survive ○Let Me Know (I Have A Right) | 15 | 1,641 |
Chart © Wow Vinyl 2025
★No. 1 ●Top Ten ○Top 40 (all on official chart) ☆Unofficial No. 1 (i.e. No. 1 only on NME Chart)
TOP 40: total weeks spent on the official Top 40
1 Credited as Tubeway Army
2 With The Emotions