# List of UK Independent Albums Chart number ones of the 1980s

These are the UK Official Indie Chart number-one albums of the 1980s, as compiled by MRIB.
| Artist | Album | Record label | Date first reached number one | Total number of weeks |
| 1980 |||||
| Adam and the Ants | Dirk Wears White Sox | Do It | 19 January 1980 | 13* |
| Crass | Stations of the Crass | Crass | 26 January 1980 | 5* |
| Joy Division | Unknown Pleasures | Factory | 9 February 1980 | 1 |
| Toyah | Sheep Farming in Barnet | Safari | 23 February 1980 | 3 |
| The Cramps | Songs the Lord Taught Us | Illegal | 29 March 1980 | 1 |
| The Pop Group | For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder? | Y | 5 April 1980 | 3 |
| The Slits | Bootleg Retrospective | Y | 26 April 1980 | 3 |
| The Fall | Totale's Turns | Rough Trade | 17 May 1980 | 5 |
| Toyah | The Blue Meaning | Safari | 21 June 1980 | 2 |
| Black Sabbath | Live at Last | NEMS | 5 July 1980 | 3 |
| Joy Division | Closer | Factory | 26 July 1980 | 8 |
| UB40 | Signing Off | Graduate | 20 September 1980 | 11* |
| Bauhaus | In the Flat Field | 4AD | 22 November 1980 | 2 |
| The Fall | Grotesque (After the Gramme) | Rough Trade | 6 December 1980 | 3 |
| 1981 |||||
| Theatre of Hate | He Who Dares Wins | Burning Rome Records | 4 April 1981 | 5 |
| A Certain Ratio | To Each... | Factory | 9 May 1981 | 1 |
| The Exploited | Punks Not Dead | Secret | 16 May 1981 | 2 |
| Au Pairs | Playing with a Different Sex | Human | 30 May 1981 | 2 |
| UB40 | Present Arms | DEP International | 13 June 1981 | 11* |
| Crass | Penis Envy | Crass | 11 July 1981 | 5 |
| Anti-Pasti | The Last Call | Rondelet | 22 August 1981 | 2 |
| Cabaret Voltaire | Red Mecca | Rough Trade | 26 September 1981 | 1 |
| Joy Division | Still | Factory | 24 October 1981 | 1 |
| Depeche Mode | Speak & Spell | Mute | 21 November 1981 | 7* |
| New Order | Movement | Factory | 5 December 1981 | 4* |
| 1982 |||||
| A Certain Ratio | Sextet | Factory | 30 January 1982 | 4* |
| 23 Skidoo | Seven Songs | Fetish | 6 March 1982 | 1 |
| Pigbag | Dr Heckle and Mr Jive | Y | 13 March 1982 | 10* |
| The 4-Skins | The Good, The Bad & The 4-Skins | Secret | 15 May 1982 | 1 |
| Anti-Nowhere League | We Are...The League | WXYZ | 29 May 1982 | 5* |
| The Exploited | Troops of Tomorrow | Secret | 26 June 1982 | 3 |
| Cabaret Voltaire | 2x45 | Rough Trade | 24 July 1982 | 1 |
| The Birthday Party | Junkyard | 4AD | 31 July 1982 | 4 |
| Crass | Christ - The Album | Crass | 28 August 1982 | 1 |
| Yazoo | Upstairs at Eric's | Mute | 4 September 1982 | 12* |
| UB40 | UB44 | DEP International | 16 October 1982 | 3* |
| Depeche Mode | A Broken Frame | Mute | 30 October 1982 | 2 |
| Toyah | Warrior Rock: Toyah on Tour | Safari | 20 November 1982 | 2 |
| 1983 |||||
| Various artists | Pillows & Prayers | Cherry Red | 15 January 1983 | 5 |
| Flux of Pink Indians | Strive to Survive Causing Least Suffering Possible | Spiderleg | 19 February 1983 | 2 |
| The Meteors | Wreckin' Crew | ID Records | 5 March 1983 | 3 |
| Sex Gang Children | Song and Legend | Illuminated | 26 March 1983 | 2 |
| Conflict | It's Time to See Who's Who | Corpus Christi | 9 April 1983 | 3 |
| Aztec Camera | High Land, Hard Rain | Rough Trade | 30 April 1983 | 2 |
| New Order | Power, Corruption & Lies | Factory | 14 May 1983 | 7* |
| Crass | Yes Sir, I Will | Crass | 18 June 1983 | 3 |
| The Cramps | ...Off the Bone | Illegal | 9 July 1983 | 2 |
| Yazoo | You and Me Both | Mute | 23 July 1983 | 8* |
| Depeche Mode | Construction Time Again | Mute | 3 September 1983 | 5* |
| Cocteau Twins | Cocteau Twins | 4AD | 5 November 1983 | 4 |
| The Cramps | Smell of Female | Big Beat | 3 December 1983 | 3 |
| The Fall | Perverted by Language | Rough Trade | 24 December 1983 | 4 |
| 1984 |||||
| Billy Bragg | Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy | Go! Discs | 21 January 1984 | 6 |
| The Smiths | The Smiths | Rough Trade | 3 March 1984 | 12 |
| New Model Army | Vengeance | Abstract | 26 May 1984 | 1 |
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds | From Her to Eternity | Mute | 2 June 1984 | 6 |
| Xmal Deutschland | Tocsin | 4AD | 14 July 1984 | 3 |
| Various artists | Rockabilly Psychosis and the Garage Disease | Big Beat | 4 August 1984 | 1 |
| 23 Skidoo | Urban Gamelan | Illuminated | 11 August 1984 | 1 |
| Theatre of Hate | Revolution | Burning Rome Records | 18 August 1984 | 6 |
| Skeletal Family | Burning Oil | Red Rhino | 29 September 1984 | 2 |
| Depeche Mode | Some Great Reward | Mute | 13 October 1984 | 2 |
| This Mortal Coil | It'll End in Tears | 4AD | 27 October 1984 | 4 |
| The Smiths | Hatful of Hollow | Rough Trade | 24 November 1984 | 13 |
| 1985 |||||
| The Smiths | Meat is Murder | Rough Trade | 23 February 1985 | 12 |
| The Long Ryders | Native Sons | Frontier | 18 May 1985 | 2 |
| New Order | Low-Life | Factory | 1 June 1985 | 8 |
| The Men They Couldn't Hang | Night of a Thousand Candles | Demon | 27 July 1985 | 4 |
| Colourbox | Colourbox | 4AD | 24 August 1985 | 4 |
| Guana Batz | Held Down to Vinyl .... At Last! | ID Records | 21 September 1985 | 2 |
| The June Brides | There Are Eight Million Stories... | Pink | 5 October 1985 | 4 |
| Hüsker Dü | Flip Your Wig | SST | 2 November 1985 | 1 |
| Depeche Mode | The Singles 81→85 | Mute | 9 November 1985 | 3* |
| Microdisney | The Clock Comes Down The Stairs | Rough Trade | 23 November 1985 | 1 |
| Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel | Nail | Self Immolation/Some Bizzare | 7 December 1985 | 2 |
| Dead Kennedys | Frankenchrist | Alternative Tentacles | 21 December 1985 | 5 |
| 1986 |||||
| Half Man Half Biscuit | Back in the DHSS | Probe Plus | 25 January 1986 | 6* |
| The Cramps | A Date with Elvis | Big Beat | 1 March 1986 | 4* |
| Red Lorry Yellow Lorry | Paint Your Wagon | Red Rhino | 22 March 1986 | 1 |
| Depeche Mode | Black Celebration | Mute | 5 April 1986 | 2 |
| Cocteau Twins | Victorialand | 4AD | 26 April 1986 | 4 |
| That Petrol Emotion | Manic Pop Thrill | Demon | 24 May 1985 | 5 |
| The Smiths | The Queen Is Dead | Rough Trade | 21 June 1986 | 8* |
| Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction | High Priest of Love | Food | 16 August 1986 | 1 |
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds | Kicking Against the Pricks | Mute | 30 August 1986 | 4 |
| Elvis Costello and the Attractions | Blood & Chocolate | Demon | 27 September 1986 | 2 |
| New Order | Brotherhood | Factory | 11 October 1986 | 6 |
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds | Your Funeral... My Trial | Mute | 22 November 1986 | 2 |
| Harold Budd, Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde | The Moon and the Melodies | 4AD | 6 December 1986 | 2 |
| Dead Kennedys | Bedtime for Democracy | Alternative Tentacles | 20 December 1986 | 7 |
| 1987 |||||
| Wiseblood | Dirtdish | K 422 | 7 February 1987 | 3 |
| The Smiths | The World Won't Listen | Rough Trade | 28 February 1987 | 5 |
| The Railway Children | Reunion Wilderness | Factory | 4 April 1987 | 1 |
| Erasure | The Circus | Mute | 11 April 1987 | 16* |
| The Woodentops | Live Hypnobeat Live | Rough Trade | 9 May 1987 | 1 |
| Wire | The Ideal Copy | Mute | 16 May 1987 | 2 |
| Fields of the Nephilim | Dawnrazor | Situation Two | 30 May 1987 | 2 |
| Sonic Youth | Sister | Blast First | 13 June 1987 | 3 |
| Dead Kennedys | Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death | Alternative Tentacles | 4 July 1987 | 5 |
| Conflict | Turning Rebellion into Money | Mortarhate | 8 August 1987 | 2 |
| New Order | Substance 1987 | Factory | 22 August 1987 | 5 |
| Big Black | Songs About Fucking | Touch and Go | 26 September 1987 | 1 |
| The Smiths | Strangeways, Here We Come | Rough Trade | 3 October 1987 | 5* |
| The Wedding Present | George Best | Reception | 24 October 1987 | 5* |
| The Fall | Palace of Swords Reversed | Rough Trade | 5 December 1987 | 2 |
| The Stupids | Jesus Meets The Stupids | Vinyl Solution | 19 December 1987 | 2 |
| 1988 |||||
| The Woodentops | Wooden Foot Cops on the Highway | Rough Trade | 5 March 1988 | 4 |
| Erasure | The Innocents | Mute | 30 April 1988 | 5* |
| The Sugarcubes | Life's Too Good | One Little Indian | 21 May 1988 | 2 |
| The House of Love | The House of Love | Creation | 4 June 1988 | 4 |
| The Weather Prophets | Judges, Juries and Horsemen | Creation | 25 June 1988 | 1 |
| A. R. Kane | 69 | Rough Trade | 9 July 1988 | 1 |
| Joy Division | Substance | Factory | 23 July 1988 | 3 |
| The Wedding Present | Tommy | Reception | 13 August 1988 | 1 |
| Various artists | Doing It for the Kids | Creation | 20 August 1988 | 4 |
| The Smiths | Rank | Rough Trade | 17 September 1988 | 2 |
| Cocteau Twins | Blue Bell Knoll | 4AD | 1 October 1988 | 3 |
| Dinosaur Jr. | Bug | Blast First | 22 October 1988 | 1 |
| Sonic Youth | Daydream Nation | Enigma | 29 October 1988 | 3 |
| Napalm Death | From Enslavement to Obliteration | Earache | 19 November 1988 | 2 |
| My Bloody Valentine | Isn't Anything | Creation | 3 December 1988 | 3 |
| Kylie Minogue | Kylie | PWL | 24 December 1988 | 4 |
| 1989 |||||
| Loop | Fade Out | Head | 4 February 1989 | 1 |
| New Order | Technique | Factory | 11 February 1989 | 5 |
| Spacemen 3 | Playing with Fire | Fire | 18 March 1989 | 2 |
| De La Soul | 3 Feet High and Rising | Tommy Boy | 1 April 1989 | 2 |
| Pixies | Doolittle | 4AD | 29 April 1989 | 3 |
| Jason Donovan | Ten Good Reasons | PWL | 20 May 1989 | 4* |
| The Stone Roses | The Stone Roses | Silvertone | 3 June 1989 | 19* |
| Mega City Four | Tranzophobia | Decoy | 24 June 1989 | 1 |
| Fugazi | Margin Walker | Dischord | 29 July 1989 | 2 |
| The Primitives | Lazy 86–88 | Lazy | 9 September 1989 | 1 |
| Primal Scream | Primal Scream | Creation | 30 September 1989 | 2 |
| The Sugarcubes | Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week! | One Little Indian | 14 October 1989 | 2 |
| Erasure | Wild! | Mute | 28 October 1989 | 3 |
| Mudhoney | Mudhoney | Sub Pop | 18 November 1989 | 2 |