1980 In Numbers
24 Chart Toppers
Two dozen singles climbed to the top spot on the official chart during the calendar year, the highest total during The Golden Years (1977-85).
| Title | Artist | Weeks No.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Brass In Pocket | The Pretenders | 2 |
| Too Much Too Young | The Specials | 2 |
| Coward Of The County | Kenny Rogers | 2 |
| Atomic | Blondie | 2 |
| Together We Are Beautiful | Fern Kinney | 1 |
| Going Underground | The Jam | 3 |
| Working My Way Back To You | Detroit Spinners | 2 |
| Call Me | Blondie | 1 |
| Geno | Dexy's Midnight Runners | 2 |
| What's Another Year | Johnny Logan | 2 |
| Theme From M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless) | Mash | 3 |
| Crying | Don Mclean | 3 |
| Xanadu | Olivia Newton-John And ELO | 2 |
| Use It Up And Wear It Out | Odyssey | 2 |
| The Winner Takes It All | ABBA | 2 |
| Ashes To Ashes | David Bowie | 2 |
| START | The Jam | 1 |
| Feels Like I'm In Love | Kelly Marie | 2 |
| Don't Stand So Close To Me | The Police | 4 |
| Woman In Love | Barbra Streisand | 3 |
| The Tide Is High | Blondie | 2 |
| Super Trouper | ABBA | 3 |
| (Just Like) Starting Over | John Lennon | 1 |
| There's No One Quite Like Grandma | St. Winifred's School Choir | 1 |
7 Unofficial No. 1s
Seven songs topped the NME chart but not the official one used by the BBC. These are the unofficial number ones of 1980.
| Title | Artist | BBC Chart |
|---|---|---|
| My Girl | Madness | 3 |
| Dance Yourself Dizzy | Liquid Gold | 2 |
| No Doubt About It | Hot Chocolate | 2 |
| Funky Town | Lipps Inc | 2 |
| Upside Down | Diana Ross | 2 |
| One Day I'll Fly Away | Randy Crawford | 2 |
| Stop The Cavalry | Jona Lewie | 3 |
13 Near misses
Thirteen songs peaked at No. 2 for a total of 21 weeks. Funky Town by Lipps Inc was the biggest hit not to reach the official No. 1 spot.
| Title | Artist | Weeks No.2 |
|---|---|---|
| I Have A Dream | ABBA | 2 |
| With You I'm Born Again | Billy Preston And Syreeta | 2 |
| And The Beat Goes On | The Whispers | 1 |
| Dance Yourself Dizzy | Liquid Gold | 2 |
| Coming Up | Paul McCartney | 1 |
| No Doubt About It | Hot Chocolate | 3 |
| Funky Town | Lipps Inc | 2 |
| More Than I Can Say | Leo Sayer | 1 |
| Upside Down | Diana Ross | 2 |
| One Day I'll Fly Away | Randy Crawford | 2 |
| Masterblaster (Jammin') | Stevie Wonder | 1 |
| D.I.S.C.O. | Ottawan | 2 |
| What You're Proposing | Status Quo | 2 |
77M Singles Shifted
Despite a record 12M drop in sales from the previous year, 1980 saw the third highest volume of singles sold in the UK to date.
Source: BPI
0 Million Sellers
This year’s biggest selling single, Don’t Stand So Close To Me by The Police, shifted 750,000 copies.
138 Top 10 Hits
The longest stay in the Top 10 was just 8 weeks, the lowest during the Golden Years (1977-85).
334 Top 40 Hits
A total of 334 singles peaked on the official Top 40 during the year, the highest number of the Golden Years (1977-85).
3 In A Row
Blondie were the first act since ABBA in 1976 to have three official chart toppers in a calendar year.
61 New Acts On TOTP
Dexy's Midnight Runners, UB40, The Cure, The Human League, Adam And The Ants and Spandau Ballet were among the acts to appear on Top Of The Pops for the first time this year.
13 Week Run
The single with the longest run in the official Top 40 was John Lennon's No. 1 hit (Just Like) Starting Over.
0 At No. 27
In a chart oddity, no single peaked at No. 27. Bizarrely, this also happened in 1979. One for the numerologists.