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WOW's Top 20 Singles from 1983

THE GOLDEN YEARS

Featured Year...

Indulge in a little nostalgia. Rewind to 1977 and relive the music and events that defined the year.

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Biggest Artists 1982

The UK's Top 20 best-performing artists in 1982 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. The Jam have their best-ever year but it is their last. Yet the trio's two No. 1s and one unofficial No. 1 cannot overtake the "nutty boys", whose 41 weeks on the Top 40 see them crowned as year-end champs for a second time. After a five year absence, The Stranglers make a final return to the year-end Top 20 on the back of their No. 2 hit Golden Brown. Bucks Fizz, Dexys Midnight Runners and Duran Duran have strong years. As do Culture Club, but it is only a warm up for huge success in 1983.

★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 MADNESS●It Must Be Love  ○Cardiac Arrest  ★House Of Fun  ●Driving In My Car  ●Our House 41 3,987
2 THE JAM★Town Called Malice  ●Just Who Is The 5 O’Clock Hero  ☆The Bitterest Pill (I’ve Ever Had To Swallow)  ★Beat Surrender 25 2,929
3 SHAKIN' STEVENS★Oh Julie  ●Shirley  ○Give Me Your Heart Tonight  ●I'll Be Satisfied  ●Blue Christmas1 33 2,917
4 ADAM ANT●Ant Rap2  ○Deutscher Girls2  ★Goody Two Shoes  ●Friend Or Foe  ○Desperate But Not Serious 27 2,884
5 BUCKS FIZZ★The Land Of Make Believe  ★My Camera Never Lies  ●Now Those Days Are Gone 25 2,720
6 DEXY’S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS★Come On Eileen  ●Jackie Wilson Said  ○Let’s Get This Straight (From The Start) 27 2,640
7 CULTURE CLUB★Do You Really Want To Hurt Me  ☆Time (Clock Of The Heart) 21 2,443
8 DURAN DURAN●Hungry Like The Wolf  ●Save A Prayer  ●Rio 28 2,415
9 SHALAMAR●I Can Make You Feel Good  ●A Night To Remember  ●There It Is  ○Friends 33 2,408
10 SOFT CELL●Say Hello Wave Goodbye  ●Torch  ●What  ○Where The Heart Is 28 2,384
11 YAZOO●Only You  ●Don’t Go  ○The Other Side Of Love 28 2,345
12 TIGHT FIT★The Lion Sleeps Tonight  ●Fantasy Island 21 2,215
13 ABC●Poison Arrow  ●The Look Of Love  ●All Of My Heart 24 2,161
14 HAIRCUT 100●Love Plus One  ●Fantastic Day  ●Nobody’s Fool 24 2,029
15 KID CREOLE AND THE COCONUTS●I’m A Wonderful Thing Baby  ●Stool Pigeon  ●Annie I’m Not Your Daddy  ○Dear Addy 27 2,009
16 DOLLAR●Mirror Mirror (Mon Amour)  ●Give Me Back My Heart  ○Videotheque  ○Give Me Some Kinda Magic 31 1,989
17 KOOL AND THE GANG●Get Down On It  ○Take My Heart  ○Big Fun  ●Ooh La La (Let’s Go Dancin')  ○Hi De Hi Ho De Ho 32 1,874
18 IMAGINATION●Just An Illusion  ●Music And Lights  ○In The Heat Of The Night 23 1,749
19 THE STRANGLERS●Golden Brown  ●Strange Little Girl 18 1,662
20 IRENE CARA★Fame 18 1,566

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)

WKS: total weeks spent on the official Top 40

Part of the chart run was in 1981 or 1983, which has been included in calculating the CHAMP score

1 Lead track on The Shakin' Stevens EP

2 Credited as Adam & The Ants

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