Biggest Singles 1982
The UK's Top 40 best-performing singles in 1982 are listed below. Come On Eileen is both the best-performing chart single and the best-seller of the year. Boosted by the small and big screen respectively, Fame and Eye Of The Tiger complete the top three. Appearing for the only time on our year-end chart are long-lived punks The Stranglers with their biggest hit - their pop song Golden Brown (No. 13) is about heroin. Five Years after it was recorded, The Model (No. 12) is one of the biggest chart hits of the year.
Singles are ordered by their Chart Measured Performance (CHAMP) scores. A single's peak position and the month it peaked are also provided.
➀ – ➈ NME peak position (if different from official chart)
| Peak Month | Peak | CHAMP | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | COME ON EILEENDexy's Midnight Runners | August | 1 | 1,659 |
| 2 | FAMEIrene Cara | July | 1 | 1,566 |
| 3 | EYE OF THE TIGERSurvivor | September | 1 | 1,539 |
| 4 | SAVE YOUR LOVERenee And Renato | December† | 1 | 1,508 |
| 5 | THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHTTight Fit | March | 1 | 1,404 |
| 6 | THE LAND OF MAKE BELIEVEBucks Fizz | January† | 1 | 1,376 |
| 7 | DO YOU REALLY WANT TO HURT MECulture Club | October | 1 | 1,362 |
| 8 | I DON'T WANNA DANCEEddy Grant | November† | 1 | 1,244 |
| 9 | GOODY TWO SHOESAdam Ant | June | 1 | 1,244 |
| 10 | SEVEN TEARSGoombay Dance Band | March | 1 | 1,150 |
| 11 | EBONY AND IVORYPaul McCartney And Stevie Wonder | April | 1 | 1,113 |
| 12 | THE MODEL / COMPUTER LOVE ⏹Kraftwerk | February | 1 | 1,101 |
| 13 | GOLDEN BROWN ⏹The Stranglers | February | 2 | 1,095 |
| 14 | TIME (CLOCK OF THE HEART)Culture Club | December† | 3➀ | 1,081 |
| 15 | LOVE PLUS ONEHaircut 100 | March | 3 | 1,061 |
| 16 | MIRROR MANThe Human League | November† | 2➀ | 1,048 |
| 17 | PASS THE DUTCHIEMusical Youth | October | 1 | 1,006 |
| 18 | ABRACADABRAThe Steve Miller Band | July | 2➀ | 1,000 |
| 19 | OH JULIEShakin' Stevens | May | 1➁ | 990 |
| 20 | YOUNG GUNS (GO FOR IT)Wham! | December† | 3 | 967 |
| 21 | HEARTBREAKERDionne Warwick | November | 2➀ | 965 |
| 22 | TOWN CALLED MALICE ⏹The Jam | February | 1 | 961 |
| 23 | ZOOMFat Larry's Band | October | 2 | 957 |
| 24 | STARMAKERThe Kids From Fame | October | 3➁ | 957 |
| 25 | DON'T GOYazoo | July | 3 | 943 |
| 26 | BEAT SURRENDERThe Jam | December† | 1 | 938 |
| 27 | I WON'T LET YOU DOWNPhD | May | 3➀ | 937 |
| 28 | OUR HOUSEMadness | December† | 5 | 937 |
| 29 | HOUSE OF FUNMadness | May | 1 | 930 |
| 30 | IT STARTED WITH A KISSHot Chocolate | August | 5➂ | 927 |
| 31 | MAD WORLDTears For Fears | November | 3 | 926 |
| 32 | I'VE NEVER BEEN TO MECharlene | June | 1➂ | 925 |
| 33 | MICKEYToni Basil | March | 2 | 925 |
| 34 | IT MUST BE LOVEMadness | January† | 4 | 924 |
| 35 | MIRROR MIRROR (MON AMOUR)Dollar | July | 4➂ | 907 |
| 36 | ONLY YOUYazoo | May | 2➀ | 898 |
| 37 | WALKING ON SUNSHINERocker's Revenge Featuring Donnie Calvin | September | 4 | 893 |
| 38 | JUST AN ILLUSIONImagination | April | 2 | 890 |
| 39 | TORCHSoft Cell | June | 2 | 883 |
| 40 | INSIDE OUTOdyssey | July | 3➁ | 880 |
Chart © Wow Vinyl 2025
➀ – ➈ NME peak position (if different from official chart)
† Part of the chart run was in 1981 or 1983, which has been included in calculating the CHAMP score
⏹ Featured on The Wall for 1982
Tie-breaker: singles with equal CHAMP scores are ordered by better performance in the official chart