Biggest Artists 1979
The UK's Top 20 best-performing artists in 1979 are listed below. They are ordered by their total Chart Measured Performance (CHAMP) scores for the year. Singles are listed per artist in chronological order (from left to right) with a symbol denoting peak position. 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).
★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 2023
★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