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Biggest Singles 1979

The UK's Top 40 best performing singles in 1979 are listed below. The two best selling singles of the year are also its best performing chart hits. I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor (No. 5) is one of the biggest singles by a female solo artist during the Golden Years (1977-85). The Police (No. 16) and Queen (No. 20) appear in our year-end Top 20 for the first time, while ABBA make their third consecutive appearance in the Top 40, albeit far outside the top places (Nos. 34 and 38). They will be back on top in 1980.

Singles are ordered by their Chart Measured Performance (CHAMP) scores. A single's peak position and the month it peaked are also provided.
– ➈ NME peak position (if different from official chart)

Peak Month Peak CHAMP
1 BRIGHT EYES Art Garfunkel April 1 1,860
2 Y.M.C.A.The Village People January 1 1,836
3 WE DON'T TALK ANYMORECliff Richard August 1 1,725
4 WHEN YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH A BEAUTIFUL WOMANDr Hook November 1 1,691
5 I WILL SURVIVEGloria Gaynor March 1 1,572
6 ARE 'FRIENDS' ELECTRIC? Tubeway Army June 1 1,552
7 ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL Pink Floyd December 1 1,474
8 HIT ME WITH YOUR RHYTHM STICK Ian Dury And The Blockheads January 1 1,447
9 I DON'T LIKE MONDAYS The Boomtown Rats July 1 1,402
10 HEART OF GLASSBlondie February 1 1,399
11 POP MUZIKM May 2 1,303
12 DANCE AWAY Roxy Music May 2 1,277
13 ONE DAY AT A TIMELena Martell October 1 1,261
14 OLIVER'S ARMY Elvis Costello And The Attractions March 2 1,255
15 SUNDAY GIRLBlondie May 1 1,177
16 MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE The Police September 1 1,114
17 CARS Gary Numan September 1 1,111
18 LAY YOUR LOVE ON MERacey January 3 1,109
19 RING MY BELLAnita Ward June 1 1,097
20 CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVEQueen November 2 1,097
21 TRAGEDYThe Bee Gees March 1 1,079
22 BOOGIE WONDERLANDEarth Wind And Fire With The Emotions June 4 1,067
23 WALKING ON THE MOONThe Police December 1 1,062
24 I ONLY WANT TO BE WITH YOUTourists December 4 1,045
25 SOME GIRLSRacey April 2 1,032
26 NO MORE TEARS (ENOUGH IS ENOUGH)Donna Summer And Barbra Streisand December 3 1,006
27 SEPTEMBEREarth Wind And Fire January 3 980
28 RAPPER'S DELIGHTThe Sugarhill Gang December 3 971
29 BANG BANGB.A. Robertson August 2 963
30 WOMAN IN LOVEThe Three Degrees March 3 962
31 VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR The Buggles October 1 956
32 SILLY GAMESJanet Kay July 2 955
33 REUNITEDPeaches And Herb June 4 950
34 CHIQUITITAABBA February 2 943
35 DON'T STOP 'TIL YOU GET ENOUGHMichael Jackson October 3 939
36 COOL FOR CATSSqueeze April 2 937
37 LUCKY NUMBERLene Lovich March 3 935
38 I HAVE A DREAMABBA December 2 932
39 IF I SAID YOU HAD A BEAUTIFUL BODY…Bellamy Brothers September 3 930
40 EVERY DAY HURTSSad Cafe November 3 888

Chart © Wow Vinyl 2024

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

Part of the chart run was in 1978 or 1980, which has been included in calculating the CHAMP score

Featured on The Wall for 1979

Tie-breaker: singles with equal CHAMP scores are ordered by better performance in the official chart

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