Highlights 1981
Electronic music rules the charts - two of the year's three million-sellers are Tainted Love and Don't You Want Me... Adam And The Ants assault the charts with seven hits... Queen and David Bowie team-up for one of the finest No. 1s of the decade... expensive promotional videos and 12" singles are all the rage... perfect for new romantics to make a great impression this year...
Biggest Chart Single
IMAGINE
John Lennon
Its second stint in the Top 40 saw Lennon's masterpiece hit No. 1. In the wake of his murder, he had three posthumous chart toppers. See Biggest Chart Singles
Biggest Chart Act
ADAM & THE ANTS
King Adam's 64 weeks in the Top 40 during the calendar year was the second highest of the Golden Years (1977-85). See Biggest Chart Artists
NME Song of the Year
GHOST TOWN
The Specials
Few tracks are as original as Ghost Town, and even fewer capture the zeitgeist as it did during the troubled summer of 1981. See WOW's Top Singles for 1981
Brit for Best Single
TAINTED LOVE
Soft Cell
The inaugural annual Brit Awards annointed one of the iconic 1980s tracks as the best of the year. A worthy winner. See WOW's Top Singles for 1981
WOW's Top Single of 1981
GHOST TOWN
The Specials
The only year in which we agree with the NME - Ghost Town is one of the standout singles of the Golden Years. See WOW's Top Singles for 1981
Most Played Song on the Radio†
YOU DRIVE ME CRAZY
Shakin' Stevens
Shakin' Stevens was one of the most prominent solo artists of the 1980s, and this was his most successful year.
† The disc received the Ivor Novello award for most performed song of 1981