UK Number One Singles in the 80s

The ***UK Singles Chart*** (currently entitled Official Singles Chart) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-selling singles in the United Kingdom, based upon physical sales, paid-for downloads and streaming. To be eligible for the chart, a single is currently defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as either a 'single bundle' having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio track not longer than 15 minutes with a minimum sale price of 40 pence.

The OCC website contains the Top 100 chart. Some media outlets only list the Top 40 (such as the BBC) or the Top 75 (such as Music Week magazine) of this list. Around 6,500 British retail outlets contribute sales data, as well as most UK online digital-download stores. Unlike charts in the United States, no airplay statistics are used for the official UK Singles Chart. The chart week runs from 00:01 Friday to midnight Thursday, with most UK physical and digital singles being released on Fridays. From August 3, 1969 until July 5, 2015, the chart week ran from 00:01 Sunday to midnight Saturday.

The Top 40 chart is first issued on Friday afternoons by BBC Radio 1 as The Official Chart from 16:00 to 17:45, before the full Official Singles Chart Top 100 is posted on the Official Charts Company's website. A rival chart show, The Vodafone Big Top 40, is based on downloads and commercial radio airplay and is broadcast on Sunday afternoons from 16:00 to 19:00 on 145 local commercial radio stations across the United Kingdom.

The UK Singles Chart began to be compiled in 1952. According to the Official Charts Company's statistics. The precise number of chart-toppers is debatable due to the profusion of competing charts from the 1950s to the 1980s, but the usual list used is that endorsed by the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles and subsequently adopted by the Official Charts Company. The company regards a selected period of the New Musical Express chart (only from 1952 to 1960) and the Record Retailer chart from 1960 to 1969 as predecessors for the period prior to February 11, 1969, where multiples of competing charts (none official) coexisted side by side. For example, the BBC compiled its own chart based on an average of the music papers of the time; many songs announced as having reached number one on BBC Radio and Top of the Pops prior to 1969 are not listed as chart-toppers according to the legacy criteria of the Charts Company.

The first number one on the UK Singles Chart was "Here in My Heart" by Al Martino for the week ending date November 14, 1952.

## UK Number One Singles in the 80s

### Aswad

***Aswad*** are a long-lasting British reggae group, noted for adding strong R&B and soul influences to the reggae sound. They have been performing since the mid-1970s, having released a total of 21 albums. "Aswad" means "black" in Arabic.

#### March 26, 1988: "Don't Turn Around"

* Released March 1, 1988
* Two weeks, Silver

### Band Aid

***Band Aid*** is a charity supergroup featuring mainly British and Irish musicians and recording artists. It was founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for anti-famine efforts in Ethiopia by releasing the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" for the Christmas market that year. On November 25, 1984, the song was recorded at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London, and was released in the UK four days later. The single surpassed the hopes of the producers to become the Christmas number one on that release. Three subsequent re-recordings of the song to raise further money for charity also topped the charts, first the Band Aid II version in 1989 and the Band Aid 20 version in 2004 and finally the Band Aid 30 version in 2014.

#### December 15, 1984: "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

* Five weeks, Platinum
* Released December 1, 1984
* Has re-charted every year since 2008

The song was also a major success around the world, reaching number one in thirteen other countries outside the UK. In the US, the single fell short of the top ten in the Billboard Hot 100 due to a lack of airplay. Geldof's cautious hope was that the single would raise £70,000 for Ethiopia, but in the event "Do They Know It's Christmas?" raised £8 million within twelve months of release. The single's worldwide success in raising awareness and financial relief for the victims of the Ethiopian famine led the recording of several other charity singles in the UK and in other countries, such as "We Are the World" by USA for Africa. The song also led to various spin-off charity events, such as Comic Relief, and the Live Aid concert which would take place seven months later in July 1985.

### Belinda Carlisle

***Belinda Carlisle*** (born August 17, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. She gained worldwide fame as the lead singer of The Go-Go's, one of the most successful all-female bands of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a solo act.

Carlisle went on to have a successful solo career with radio hits such as "Mad About You", "I Get Weak", "Circle in the Sand", "Leave a Light On" and "Heaven Is a Place on Earth", among others, which were major successes internationally.

#### January 16, 1988: "Heaven Is a Place on Earth"

**"Heaven Is a Place on Earth"** is a song by American singer Belinda Carlisle, featured on her second studio album, Heaven on Earth (1987). It is widely considered to be Carlisle's signature song because of its success on the charts and its continued relevance today.

Carlisle's backup vocalists on the track include Michelle Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, and songwriter Diane Warren. It also featured Thomas Dolby on keyboards.

The promotional video was directed by Academy Award-winning actress Diane Keaton.

* Two weeks, Silver
* Released November 30, 1987
* US #1

### Kylie Minogue

***Kylie Minogue***(born May 28, 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and philanthropist. She achieved recognition starring in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, where she played tomboy mechanic Charlene Robinson. Since then, Minogue has been a recording artist and has achieved commercial success and critical acclaim in the entertainment industry. Minogue has been recognised with several honorific nicknames including "Princess of Pop" and "Goddess of Pop".

#### February 20, 1988: "I Should Be So Lucky"

* Released January 1, 1988
* Five weeks, Gold
* #28 (US)

***"I Should Be So Lucky"*** is a song performed by Australian recording artist and songwriter Kylie Minogue from her debut studio album *Kylie* (1988). It became a worldwide breakthrough hit; its now-iconic image of Minogue on the front cover was shot by David Levine. The song, written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman for Minogue, was well received by music critics. They went on to produce Minogue's first four studio albums.

#### January 7, 1989: "Especially for You", with Jason Donovan

* Released November 28, 1988
* Three weeks, Gold

#### May 13, 1989: "Hand on Your Heart"

* Released April 24, 1989
* One week, Gold

### Pet Shop Boys

***Pet Shop Boys*** are an English synthpop duo, formed in London in 1981 and consisting of Neil Tennant (lead vocals, keyboards, occasional guitar) and Chris Lowe (keyboards, vocals).

Pet Shop Boys are listed as the most successful duo in UK music history by The Guinness Book of Records. Three-time Brit Award winners and six-time Grammy nominees, since 1985 they have achieved 42 Top 30 singles, 22 of them Top 10 hits in the UK Singles Chart, including four UK number ones. Other hit songs include a cover of "Go West", "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" (satire of Thatcherism) and "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" in a duet with Dusty Springfield.

#### January 11, 1986: "West End Girls"

***"West End Girls"*** is a song by the British pop duo Pet Shop Boys. Written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, the song was released twice as a single. The song is influenced by hip hop music, with lyrics concerned with class and the pressures of inner-city life which were inspired partly by T. S. Eliot's poem The Waste Land.

The first version of the song was produced by Bobby Orlando and was released on Columbia Records' Bobcat Records imprint in April 1984, becoming a club hit in the United States and some European countries. After the duo signed with EMI, the song was re-recorded with producer Stephen Hague for their first studio album, Please.

* Two weeks, Gold
* Released December 2, 1985
* US #1

#### July 4, 1987: "It's A Sin"

***"It's a Sin"*** is a song recorded by English synthpop duo the Pet Shop Boys. The song is a description of Tennant's Catholic upbringing and education, implying that everything that is perceived to be pleasurable in life is regarded as sinful. The song uses extensive samples from Latin masses (specifically, Tennant reciting a part of the Confiteor, and other sounds recorded at locations such as Westminster Cathedral) and religious imagery throughout to reinforce the feel of the song. Tennant has said that he wrote the lyrics in 15 minutes, purging his emotions in a moment of frustration and anger.

* Three weeks, Silver
* Released June 16, 1987
* US #9

#### December 19, 1987: "Always On My Mind"

***"Always on My Mind"*** is an American country music song first by Gwen McCrae (as "You Were Always On My Mind") and Brenda Lee in 1972.

While Brenda Lee's version had stalled at number 45 on the country charts in 1972, other performers would reach the top 20 in the United States and elsewhere with their own versions: Elvis Presley in 1972; John Wesley Ryles in 1979; Willie Nelson's Grammy Award winning version in 1982; Pet Shop Boys in 1987; Loretta Lynn in 2016.

In 1987, the Pet Shop Boys performed a synthpop version of "Always on My Mind" on Love Me Tender, a television special on the ITV network in the UK. Commemorating the tenth anniversary of Presley's death, the programme featured various popular acts of the time performing cover versions of his hits. The Pet Shop Boys' performance was so well-received that the duo decided to record the song and release it as a single.

The video stars actor Joss Ackland who agreed to appear because his grandchildren were Pet Shop Boys fans.

* Four weeks, Gold
* Released November 30, 1987

#### April 9, 1988: "Heart"

***"Heart"*** is a song recorded by Pet Shop Boys and included on the group's second studio album, Actually. The group had initially written the song for Madonna, though they never asked her to record it, instead keeping it for themselves.

* Three weeks, Silver
* Released March 21, 1988

### Renée and Renato

***Renée and Renato*** was a female/male vocal duo, who had a UK Number one hit in December 1982 with "Save Your Love". Renato Pagliari (June 28, 1940 - July 29, 2009) auditioned for New Faces in 1975, catching the attention of Johnny Edward, who had written "Save Your Love". He was teamed with British singer Hilary Lester (now Gibbon) and the duo was renamed as Renée and Renato. By the time "Save Your Love" was released Gibbon had already joined another group and subsequent releases flopped.

#### December 18, 1982: "Save Your Love"

***"Save Your Love"*** is a song written by Johnny Edward (creator and voice of fictional robot TV character Metal Mickey) and his wife Sue and recorded by Renée and Renato. Hilary Lester (Renée) did not appear in the video with Renato Pagliari but was replaced by a model.

* Four weeks, Gold
* Released September 24, 1982

### T'Pau

***T'Pau*** is a British pop group led by singer Carol Decker. They had a string of Top 40 hits in the UK in the late 1980s, most notably "China in Your Hand", "Heart and Soul" and "Valentine", and several hits in Europe, before disbanding in the early 1990s. Decker still performs under the name T'Pau at solo shows and 1980s nostalgia concerts.

#### November 14, 1987: "China in Your Hand"

* Five weeks, Gold
* Released October, 1987
* This was a re-recorded version. The original version is from *Bridge of Spies* (1987)

The song's lyrics refer to the novel Frankenstein and its author Mary Shelley. This is more readily heard on the longer album version of the song, as the re-recorded single edit omits most of the more obvious references to the book.

### Tiffany

***Tiffany Darwish*** (born October 2, 1971), simply known by her stage name Tiffany, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and former teen icon. She is most notable for her 1987 cover of Tommy James & the Shondells' "I Think We're Alone Now". Released as the second single from her eponymous album, Tiffany, the song quickly became a teen anthem.

Although Tiffany's second album, Hold an Old Friend's Hand, managed to yield a top-10 single and chart in the upper register of the Billboard 200 in 1988, and ultimately became a platinum-selling album, it failed to replicate the success of her debut album. The 1990s had two additional releases, 1990's New Inside and the Asia-exclusive Dreams Never Die, both of which failed to rekindle substantial interest.

#### January 30, 1988: "I Think We're Alone Now"

***“I Think We’re Alone Now"*** was re-popularised when American pop singer Tiffany covered the song for her debut studio album, *Tiffany*, which was released in 1987. When George Tobin, Tiffany's manager and producer, gave her the cassette of the original version by Tommy James & the Shondells, Tiffany hated the idea of recording a version of her own for her album, mostly because she thought the song was neither modern enough nor hip enough.

The music video was shot in a shopping mall in Ogden, Utah, which echoed the way her early career had been promoted. Elements of the video were filmed in the now demolished Bull Ring Centre in Birmingham, UK.

* Three weeks, Gold
* Released January 4, 1988
* US #1