Biggest Singles 1983
The UK's Top 40 best-performing singles in 1983 are listed below. They are ordered by their Chart Measured Performance (CHAMP) scores. A single's peak position and the month it peaked are also provided. John Lennon heads the chart - his posthumous re-release of Imagine beats the year's biggest selling single by The Human League into second place. Vienna - the single infamously denied the official No. 1 spot by a dreadful novelty record - is the fifth biggest chart single of the year. Adam And The Ants have three singles inside the Top 20. Ant Music's 16-week run in the Top 40 - the longest of any single this year - helps it secure the No. 3 spot. Adam Ant will be back in 1982.
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 2022
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