1980 in British music

none 1980 1980 British music This is a summary of 1980 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year. Events unknown date – John Rutter is made an honorary Fellow of Westminster Choir College, Princeton. 1 January – Cliff Richard is appointed an MBE by Elizabeth II. 16 January – Paul McCartney is arrested in Tokyo for possession of 1/2 lb g in of marijuana. The remaining part of McCartney's tour has to be cancelled. 25 January – Paul McCartney is released from a Japanese jail and ejected from the country by Japanese authorities. 8 February – David Bowie and his wife of nearly 10 years, Angie, file for divorce. Bowie gets custody of their nine-year-old son Zowie. 30 April – The first performance of the Quartetto Intimo (composed 1930–32) by John Foulds takes place at Hartlebury Castle, performed by the Endellion String Quartet as part of the 1980 Bromsgrove Festival. 18 May – Ian Curtis, vocalist of pioneering post-punk group Joy Division, hangs himself in his Macclesfield home. His death comes just days before Joy Division are scheduled to begin their first U.S. tour. 14 July – Malcolm Owen of punk rock band the Ruts is found dead in the bathroom of his parents' house in Hayes, from a heroin overdose. 22 August – The world premiere of Michael Tippett’s Triple Concerto takes place at the BBC Proms, with the London Symphony Orchestra and soloists György Pauk, Nobuko Imai and Ralph Kirshbaum, conducted by Sir Colin Davis. 16 September – Kate Bush becomes the first British female artist to reach number one in the UK album charts. 20 September – Ozzy Osbourne's debut album Blizzard of Ozz is released in the UK. 25 November – ABBA score the last of their nine number-one singles in the UK singles chart with "Super Trouper". December – Duran Duran sign with EMI after finalising their lineup and touring as a support act for Hazel O'Connor. 4 December – Led Zeppelin disbands following the death of drummer John Bonham in September. 8 December – John Lennon is shot dead outside his apartment building in New York City. His latest single, "(Just Like) Starting Over", subsequently becomes a number-one hit. Pop music A varied list of artists reached No. 1 in the UK singles chart in 1980. Kenny Rogers, The Jam and Odyssey were among those vying for the top position. The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums stated that the year had a very dated appearance, because of a number of songs reaching No. 1 which had been recorded years previously, such as the "Theme from M*A*S*H*" and Don McLean's cover of Roy Orbison's "Crying". The Ska and Mod revivals reached their peak this year, with strong chart showings by The Jam, The Specials and Madness. 1970s favourites ABBA and Blondie both had their last years as chart heavyweights, clocking up five No.1 singles between them. David Bowie scored his second No.1 this year, while the death of John Lennon at the end of the year gave him his first chart topper (and would dominate the early months of 1981). Kate Bush became the first British female artist to have a No.1 album, and The Police finished the year as the top selling act. "Brass in Pocket" by The Pretenders became the first number 1 single of the 80s (not counting "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd" which was a holdover from 1979). Charts Number-one singles Chart date(week ending)SongArtist(s)Sales 5 January"Another Brick in the Wall"Pink Floyd 200,000 12 January 92,000 19 January"Brass in Pocket"The Pretenders 76,000 26 January 84,000 2 FebruaryThe Special AKA Live!The Specials 88,000 9 February 109,000 16 February"Coward of the County"Kenny Rogers 87,000 23 February 121,000 1 March"Atomic"Blondie 115,000 8 March 129,000 15 March"Together We Are Beautiful"Fern Kinney 84,000 22 March"Going Underground" / "Dreams of Children"The Jam 131,000 29 March 124,000 5 April 85,000 12 April"Working My Way Back to You"The Detroit Spinners 78,000 19 April 81,000 26 April"Call Me"Blondie 82,000 3 May"Geno"Dexys Midnight Runners 95,000 10 May 93,000 17 May"What's Another Year" Johnny Logan 88,000 24 May 83,000 31 May"Theme from M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless)"The Mash 74,000 7 June 97,000 14 June 88,000 21 June"Crying"Don McLean 68,000 28 June 67,000 5 July 59,000 12 July "Xanadu"Olivia Newton-John/Electric Light Orchestra 74,000 19 July 69,000 26 July "Use It Up and Wear It Out"Odyssey 62,000 2 August 76,000 9 August"The Winner Takes It All"ABBA 71,000 16 August 105,000 23 August"Ashes to Ashes"David Bowie 111,000 30 August 109,000 6 September"Start!"The Jam 81,000 13 September"Feels Like I'm in Love"Kelly Marie 102,000 20 September 99,000 27 September "Don't Stand So Close to Me"The Police 112,000 4 October 209,000 11 October 121,000 18 October 97,000 25 October"Woman in Love" Barbra Streisand 91,000 1 November 115,000 8 November 119,000 15 November"The Tide Is High"Blondie 110,000 22 November 132,000 29 November"Super Trouper"ABBA 121,000 6 December 101,000 13 December 94,000 20 December"(Just Like) Starting Over"John Lennon 148,000 27 December"There's No One Quite Like Grandma"St. Winifred's School Choir 165,685 Number-one albums Chart date(week ending)AlbumArtist 5 JanuaryGreatest Hits, Vol. 1Rod Stewart 12 JanuaryGreatest Hits Vol. 2ABBA 19 JanuaryPretendersThe Pretenders 26 January 2 February 9 February 16 February Last DanceVarious artists 23 February 1 MarchString of HitsThe Shadows 8 March 15 March 22 MarchTears and LaughterJohnny Mathis 29 March 5 AprilDukeGenesis 12 April 19 AprilGreatest HitsRose Royce 26 April 3 MaySky 2 Sky 10 May 17 MayThe Magic of Boney M. – 20 Golden Hits Boney M. 24 May 31 May McCartney IIPaul McCartney 7 June 14 June Peter GabrielPeter Gabriel 21 June 28 JuneFlesh and BloodRoxy Music 5 July Emotional RescueThe Rolling Stones 12 July 19 JulyThe GameQueen 26 July 2 AugustDeepest PurpleDeep Purple 9 AugustBack in BlackAC/DC 16 August 23 AugustFlesh + BloodRoxy Music 30 August 6 September 13 SeptemberTelekonGary Numan 20 SeptemberNever for EverKate Bush 27 September Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)David Bowie 4 October 11 OctoberZenyatta Mondatta The Police 18 October 25 October 1 November 8 NovemberGuiltyBarbra Streisand 15 November 22 NovemberSuper TrouperABBA 29 November 6 December 13 December 20 December 27 December Year-end charts The tables below include sales between 31 December 1979 and 31 December 1980: the year-end charts reproduced in the issue of Music Week dated 27 December 1980 and played on Radio 1 on 4 January 1981 only include sales figures up until 6 December 1980.Top 100 Albums/Top 100 Singles Music Week 27 December 1980 21–22 Best-selling singles Chart File Record Mirror 37 21 March 1981 No. Number Title Artist Peakposition 1 "Don't Stand So Close to Me" The Police 1 2 "Woman in Love" Barbra Streisand 1 3 "Feels Like I'm in Love" Kelly Marie 1 4 "Super Trouper" ABBA 1 5 "D.I.S.C.O." Ottawan 2 6 "The Tide Is High" Blondie 1 7 "Geno" Dexys Midnight Runners 1 8 "Together We Are Beautiful" Fern Kinney 1 9 "Coward of the County" Kenny Rogers 1 10 "(Just Like) Starting Over" John Lennon 1 11 "Working My Way Back to You" The Detroit Spinners The Spinners (American R&B group) 1 12 "9 to 5" Sheena Easton 3 13 "Baggy Trousers" Madness 3 14 "Ashes to Ashes" David Bowie 1 15 "Theme from M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless)" MASH 1 16 "Going Underground"/"Dreams of Children" The Jam 1 17 "Crying" Don McLean 1 18 "The Winner Takes It All" ABBA 1 19 "Dance Yourself Dizzy" Liquid Gold 2 20 "There's No One Quite Like Grandma" St Winifred's School Choir 1 21 "Atomic" Blondie 1 22 "Upside Down" Diana Ross 2 23 "Use It Up and Wear It Out" Odyssey 1 24 "Start!" The Jam 1 25 "Master Blaster (Jammin')" Stevie Wonder 2 26 "Funkytown" Lipps Inc. 2 27 "I'm in the Mood for Dancing" The Nolans 3 28 "If You're Lookin' for a Way Out" Odyssey 6 29 "One Day I'll Fly Away" Randy Crawford 2 30 The Special AKA Live! EP The Specials 1 31 "What You're Proposing" Status Quo 2 32 "Take That Look Off Your Face" Marti Webb 3 33 "No Doubt About It" Hot Chocolate 2 34 "Stop the Cavalry" Jona Lewie 3 35 "Brass in Pocket" Pretenders 1 36 "Oops Up Side Your Head" The Gap Band 6 37 "What's Another Year" Johnny Logan Johnny Logan (singer) 1 38 "Xanadu" Olivia Newton-John/Electric Light Orchestra 1 39 "Special Brew" Bad Manners 3 40 "King"/"Food for Thought" UB40 4 41 "And the Beat Goes On" The Whispers 2 42 "Turning Japanese" The Vapors 3 43 "When You Ask About Love" Matchbox 4 44 "I Could Be So Good for You" Dennis Waterman with the Dennis Waterman Band 3 45 "My Girl" Madness 3 46 "Never Knew Love Like This Before" Stephanie Mills 4 47 "Enola Gay" Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark 8 48 "Call Me" Blondie 1 49 "More Than I Can Say" Leo Sayer 2 50 "Embarrassment" Madness 4 Best-selling albums Chart File Record Mirror 38 4 April 1981 No. Number Title Artist Peak position (in 1980)Official UK Albums Chart, 1980 1 Super Trouper ABBA 1 2 Zenyatta Mondatta The Police The Police (band) 1 3 Greatest Hits Rose Royce 1 4 Guilty Barbra Streisand 1 5 Pretenders Pretenders 1 6 Reggatta de Blanc The Police The Police (band) 2 7 Flesh and Blood Roxy Music 1 8 Manilow Magic: The Best of Barry Manilow Barry Manilow 4 9 Off the Wall Michael Jackson 6 10 Duke Genesis 1 11 Sky 2 Sky 1 12 Double Fantasy John Lennon and Yoko Ono 2 13 One Step Beyond... Madness 2 14 12 Gold Bars Status Quo 3 15 String of Hits The Shadows 1 16 The Last Dance Various Artists 1 17 Greatest Hits Vol. 2 ABBA 1 18 Outlandos d'Amour The Police The Police (band) 9 19 The Magic of Boney M. – 20 Golden Hits Boney M. 1 20 Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) David Bowie 1 21 Greatest Hits Dr. Hook 2 22 Tell Me on a Sunday Marti Webb 2 23 Absolutely Madness 2 24 Not the Nine O'Clock News Not the Nine O'Clock News Cast 5 25 Tears and Laughter Johnny Mathis 1 26 Signing Off UB40 2 27 Never for Ever Kate Bush 1 28 The Wall Pink Floyd 3 29 The Specials The Specials 4 30 I Just Can't Stop It The Beat The Beat (British band) 3 31 Greatest Hits Rod Stewart 1 32 Give Me the Night George Benson 3 33 Get Happy!! Elvis Costello and the Attractions 2 34 Me Myself I Joan Armatrading 5 35 Bat Out of Hell Meat Loaf 20 36 McCartney II Paul McCartney 1 37 Emotional Rescue The Rolling Stones 1 38 Back in Black AC/DC 1 39 Peter Gabriel Peter Gabriel 1 40 Eat to the Beat Blondie 7 41 Autoamerican Blondie 3 42 Parallel Lines Blondie 15 43 Hotter than July Stevie Wonder 2 44 Sometimes You Win Dr. Hook 14 45 Wheels of Steel Saxon 5 46 The Game Queen 1 47 Sound Affects The Jam 2 48 Kings of the Wild Frontier Adam and the Ants 3 49 Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds Jeff Wayne 32 50 Breaking Glass Hazel O'Connor 5 Classical music: new works William Alwyn Leave Taking, song cycle Rhapsody for piano, violin, viola and cello String Quartet No. 3 George Benjamin – Ringed by the Flat Horizon Lennox Berkeley – Magnificat and Nunc dimittis, Op.99 Harrison Birtwistle Clarinet Quintet On the Sheer Threshold of the Night for chorus Peter Maxwell Davies Farewell to Stromness, piano interlude (from The Yellow Cake Review) Little Quartet, string quartet Symphony No. 2 A Welcome to Orkney for chamber ensemble The Yellow Cake Review for voice and piano Yesnaby Ground, piano interlude (from The Yellow Cake Review) Alexander Goehr – Sinfornia for orchestra Iain Hamilton Mass in A for a cappella chorus Vespers, for mixed chorus, two pianos, harp and percussion Jonathan Harvey – Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco Alun Hoddinott – The Heaventree of Stars Wilfred Josephs Consort Music for brass Double-bass Concerto Double-bass Sonata Equus, ballet Tombeaux for organ Kenneth Leighton Animal Heaven for soprano, recorder, cello and harpsichord Fantasy on a Chorale for violin and organ Missa Cornelia for treble voices and organ Missa de Gloria, organ solo George Lloyd – The Vigil of Venus for voices and orchestra Nicholas Maw – The Ruin, for chorus and solo horn Thea Musgrave From One to Another, for viola and fifteen strings The Last Twilight for chorus, brass and percussion Edmund Rubbra Canzona for Brass Duo of cor anglais and piano How Shall My Tongue Express? for unaccompanied chorus Mass in Honour of St. Teresa of Avila for unaccompanied chorus Robert Simpson – String Quartet No. 8 Michael Tippett – Wolf Trap Fanfare for brass ensemble Malcolm Williamson Choric Hymn for mixed chorus Konstanz Fanfare for brass, percussion and organ Lament in memory of Lord Mountbatten for violin and string orchestra Little Mass of St Bernadette for voices and organ Ode for Queen Elizabeth for string orchestra Richmond Fanfare for brass, percussion and organ Symphony No. 5 Opera Peter Maxwell Davies Cinderella (children's opera) The Lighthouse Kenneth Leighton – Columba William Mathias – The Servants Musical theatre Suburban Strains, book and lyrics by Alan Ayckbourn with music by Paul ToddAllen, Paul (2004) A Pocket Guide to Alan Ayckbourn Plays, Faber & Faber 0-571-21492-4 Births 1 January – Richie Faulkner, rock guitarist (Judas Priest) 5 January – Lisa Gordon, drummer (Hepburn) 28 January – Nadia Shepherd, singer (Big Brovaz, Booty Luv) 9 March – Anna Clyne, composer of electroacoustic music 29 March – Andy Scott-Lee, singer (3SL) 4 April – Johnny Borrell, singer and musician (Razorlight) 12 April – Brian McFadden, Irish singer (Westlife) 26 April – James Hurst, singer and guitarist (North and South) 29 April – Kian Egan, Irish singer (Westlife) 8 May – Michelle McManus, singer and TV presenter 28 May – Mark Feehily, Irish singer (Westlife) 15 June – Lynsey Shaw, singer (Girls@Play) 23 June Jessica Taylor, singer (Liberty X) Andy Orr, Irish singer (Six) 29 June – Katherine Jenkins, soprano 7 July – Fyfe Dangerfield, singer-songwriter and guitarist (Guillemots and Senseless Prayer) 28 July – Noel Sullivan, singer (Hear'Say) 16 August – Bob Hardy, bassist (Franz Ferdinand) 19 August – Darius Danesh, singer-songwriter and actor 5 September Kevin Simm, singer (Liberty X) Zainam Higgins, singer (Cleopatra) 6 September Kerry Katona, TV presenter and singer (Atomic Kitten) Jayde Delpratt, singer (Ultimate Kaos) 10 September – Matthew Keaney, Irish singer (Reel) 24 September – Mikey Green, singer (Phixx) 3 October – Danny O'Donoghue, Irish singer-songwriter (Mytown, The Script) 9 November – Philip Gargan, Irish singer (Reel) 15 December – Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist with Kasabian date unknown Iain Bell, composer of opera and vocal music Catrin Finch, harpist Cheryl Frances-Hoad, composer Larry Goves, Welsh composer Dobrinka Tabakova, Bulgarian-British composer Deaths 15 January – David Whitfield, singer, 53 (brain haemorrhage) 25 January – Queenie Watts, actress and singer, 53 (cancer) 29 January – Edward Lewis, record producer and executive (Decca), 79 9 February – John Kennedy, cellist, 57 18 February – Muriel Brunskill, operatic contralto, 80 19 February – Bon Scott, lead singer of AC/DC, 33 (alcohol poisoning) 3 April – Isla Cameron, singer, 53 (asphyxiation) 5 April – Hector MacAndrew, Scottish composer and fiddler, 77 4 May – Joe "Mr Piano" Henderson, pianist, 60 18 May – Ian Curtis, musician and singer (Joy Division), 23 (suicide) 22 May – Reginald Foort, theatre organist, 87 5 July – A. J. Potter, composer, 61 6 July – Frank Cordell, composer, arranger and conductor, 62 14 July - Malcolm Owen, singer (The Ruts), 26 (accidental drowning) 24 July – Peter Sellers, comic actor and singer ("Goodness Gracious Me"), 54 (heart attack) 5 August – Norman Fulton, composer and conductor, 71 (lung cancer) 9 August – Audrey Jeans, singer, 51 (car accident) 12 August – Leopold Spinner, Austrian-born composer, 74 8 September – Eddie Butcher, singer, songwriter and folk song collector, 80 18 September – Walter Midgley, operatic tenor, 68 25 September – John Bonham, drummer (Led Zeppelin), 32 (asphyxiation) 30 September – Horace Finch, pianist and organist, 74 11 October – Cassie Walmer, music hall singer, 92 27 October – Steve Peregrin Took, bongo player for Tyrannosaurus Rex, frontman for Shagrat and Steve Took's Horns, solo artist, 31 (asphyxiation) 29 October – Ouida MacDermott, singer, 91 8 December – John Lennon, singer, songwriter, and guitarist (The Beatles), 40 (murdered) 16 December – Keith Christie, jazz trombonist, 49 29 December – Lennie Felix, jazz pianist, 60 (car accident) See also 1980 in British radio 1980 in British television 1980 in the United Kingdom References British music Category:British music by year