Biggest Singles 1983
The UK's Top 40 best-performing singles in 1983 are listed below. Culture Club tops the chart with the hugely successful Karma Chameleon, the only platinum seller this year, and Paul Young has two songs in the year's Top 10, reflecting his meteoric rise. New Order make the Top 3 with Blue Monday, the 12" single release that stayed in the weekly charts for countless weeks. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Phil Collins' bland cover of You Can't Hurry Love had such a chart impact. Seven of this year's biggest chart hits also make The Wall 1983
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 | KARMA CHAMELEONCulture Club | September† | 1 | 1,908 |
| 2 | UPTOWN GIRLBilly Joel | November | 1 | 1,614 |
| 3 | BLUE MONDAY ⏹New Order | October | 9➄ | 1,563 |
| 4 | YOU CAN'T HURRY LOVEPhil Collins | January† | 1 | 1,456 |
| 5 | RED RED WINEUB40 | September | 1 | 1,449 |
| 6 | WHEREVER I LAY MY HAT (THAT'S MY HOME)Paul Young | July | 1 | 1,455 |
| 7 | LOVE OF THE COMMON PEOPLEPaul Young | December† | 2➀ | 1,388 |
| 8 | I.O.U.Freeez | July | 2 | 1,342 |
| 9 | BILLIE JEAN ⏹Michael Jackson | March | 1 | 1,331 |
| 10 | LET'S DANCEDavid Bowie | April | 1 | 1,313 |
| 11 | EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE ⏹The Police | June | 1 | 1,304 |
| 12 | ONLY YOUThe Flying Pickets | December† | 1 | 1,294 |
| 13 | BABY JANERod Stewart | July | 1 | 1,289 |
| 14 | TRUESpandau Ballet | April | 1 | 1,270 |
| 15 | DOWN UNDERMen At Work | January | 1 | 1,263 |
| 16 | SAY SAY SAYPaul McCartney And Michael Jackson | November† | 2 | 1,241 |
| 17 | GIVE IT UPKC And The Sunshine Band | August | 1 | 1,209 |
| 18 | TOO SHYKajagoogoo | February | 1 | 1,197 |
| 19 | TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEARTBonnie Tyler | March | 1 | 1,185 |
| 20 | FLASHDANCE....WHAT A FEELINGIrene Cara | July | 2 | 1,179 |
| 21 | ALL NIGHT LONG (ALL NIGHT)Lionel Richie | October† | 2 | 1,154 |
| 22 | BAD BOYSWham! | June | 2 | 1,127 |
| 23 | HOLD ME NOW ⏹The Thompson Twins | December† | 4 | 1,103 |
| 24 | MOONLIGHT SHADOWMike Oldfield | July | 4➂ | 1,050 |
| 25 | SWEET DREAMS (ARE MADE OF THIS) ⏹Eurythmics | March | 2 | 1,026 |
| 26 | TEMPTATION ⏹Heaven 17 | May | 2 | 1,013 |
| 27 | MY OH MYSlade | December† | 2 | 1,010 |
| 28 | DOUBLE DUTCHMalcolm McLaren | August | 3➃ | 994 |
| 29 | WORDSF.R. David | April | 2➃ | 993 |
| 30 | VICTIMSCulture Club | December† | 3➁ | 947 |
| 31 | BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVESModern Romance | January† | 4 | 944 |
| 32 | THRILLERMichael Jackson | December† | 10➈ | 920 |
| 33 | THEY DON'T KNOWTracey Ullman | October | 2 | 899 |
| 34 | LET'S STAY TOGETHER ⏹Tina Turner | December† | 6➃ | 896 |
| 35 | SIGN OF THE TIMESThe Belle Stars | February | 3➁ | 895 |
| 36 | GOLDSpandau Ballet | August | 2➀ | 886 |
| 37 | IS THERE SOMETHING I SHOULD KNOW?Duran Duran | March | 1 | 885 |
| 38 | CRY JUST A LITTLE BITShakin' Stevens | November | 3 | 881 |
| 39 | TONIGHT I CELEBRATE MY LOVEPeabo Bryson And Roberta Flack | September | 3➃ | 872 |
| 40 | CANDY GIRLNew Edition | May | 1 | 842 |
Chart © Wow Vinyl 2024
➀ – ➈ NME peak position (if different from official chart)
† Part of the chart run was in 1982 or 1984, which has been included in calculating the CHAMP score
⏹ Featured on The Wall for 1983