September 18, 1982. I can peg my fascination with music charts to that date. After listening to a local radio station’s countdown of the hits of the summer, I decided to make my own list of favorites (see original list here). I ended up revising it every few days, eventually developing my own charts which I maintained into the ‘90s.
I’ve also projected before and after those lists to create speculative lists of #1 songs for eras not covered by those original charts. You can check out those links here, but this page is focused on the #1 songs that might have been for me in the 1980s.
1980:
- Jan. 19: Pink Floyd “Comfortably Numb” (2 wks)
- Feb. 2: Pink Floyd “Mother” (1 wk)
- Feb. 9: Rush “Free Will” (2 wks)
- Feb. 23: Air Supply “Lost in Love” (3 wks)
- Mar. 15: Eagles “I Can’t Tell You Why” (2 wks)
- Mar. 29: Blondie “Call Me” (3 wks)
- Apr. 19: Charlie Dore “Pilot of the Airwaves” (2 wks)
- May 3: Lipps Inc. “Funkytown” (2 wks)
- May 17: Mac Davis “It’s Hard to Be Humble” (2 wks)
- May 31: Billy Joel “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” (3 wks)
- June 21: Olivia Newton-John “Magic” (4 wks)
- July 19: Split Enz “I Hope I Never” (2 wks)
- Aug. 2: Peter Gabriel “Family Snapshot” (2 wks)
- Aug. 16: Queen “Another One Bites the Dust” (3 wks)
- Sept. 6: Peter Gabriel “Biko” (4 wks)
- Oct. 4: Kenny Rogers “Lady” (2 wks)
- Oct. 25: The Police “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” (2 wks)
- Nov. 8: Kool & the Gang “Celebration” (1 wk)
- Nov. 15: Air Supply “American Hearts” (2 wks)
- Nov. 29: REO Speedwagon “Keep on Loving You” (2 wks)
- Dec. 13: The Alan Parsons Project “Games People Play” (2 wks)
- Dec. 27: Eagles “Seven Bridges Road (live)” (3 wks)
1981:
- Jan. 17: Styx “The Best of Times” (6 wks)
- Feb. 28: Climax Blues Band “I Love You” (3 wks)
- Mar. 21: Styx “Too Much Time on My Hands” (2 wks)
- Apr. 4: Rush “Tom Sawyer” (3 wks)
- Apr. 25: Kim Carnes “Bette Davis Eyes” (2 wks)
- May 9: Stars on 45 “Medley I” (1 wk)
- May 16: Neil Diamond “America” (4 wks)
- June 13: Bruce Springsteen “The River” (2 wks)
- June 27: Squeeze “Tempted” (4 wks)
- July 25: Lionel Richie & Diana Ross “Endless Love” (2 wks)
- Aug. 8: Journey “Who’s Crying Now” (2 wks)
- Aug. 22: Foreigner “Juke Box Hero” (2 wks)
- Sept. 5: Soft Cell “Tainted Love” (3 wks)
- Sept. 26: Journey “Don’t Stop Believin’” (2 wks)
- Oct. 10: Sting “Message in a Bottle (live)” (2 wks)
- Oct. 24: Olivia Newton-John “Physical” (4 wks)
- Nov. 21: Foreigner “Waiting for a Girl Like You” (4 wks)
- Dec. 19: Triumph “Magic Power” (1 wk)
- Dec. 26: The J. Geils Band “Centerfold” (2 wks)
1982:
- Jan. 2: Queen with David Bowie “Under Pressure” (2 wks)
- Jan. 23: Joan Jett & the Blackhearts “I Love Rock and Roll” (2 wks)
- Feb. 6: Journey “Open Arms” (6 wks)
- Mar. 20: Alabama “Mountain Music” (4 wks)
- Apr. 17: Elton John “Empty Garden” (2 wks)
- May 1: Squeeze “Black Coffee in Bed” (2 ws)
- May 15: Sting “Roxanne (live)” (2 wks)
- May 29: Queen “Body Language” (3 wks)
- June 19: Steve Miller Band “Abracadabra” (2 wks)
- July 10: John Mellencamp “Jack and Diane” (4 wks)
- Aug. 7: The Alan Parsons Project “Eye in the Sky” (3 wks)
- Aug. 28: Van Halen “Happy Trails” (2 wks)
- Sept. 11: Olivia Newton-John “Heart Attack” (5 wks)
- Oct. 16: Don Henley “Dirty Laundry” (2 wks)
- Oct. 30: Toto “Africa” (6 wks)
- Dec. 11: Charlene with Stevie Wonder “Used to Be” (3 wks)
1983:
- Jan. 1: The Police “I Burn for You” (2 wks)
- Jan. 15: The Alan Parsons Project “Old and Wise” (4 wks)
- Feb. 12: Styx “Mr. Roboto” (8 wks)
- Apr. 9: Marillion “Script for a Jester’s Tear” (2 wks)
- Apr. 23: Pat Benatar “Anxiety (Get Nervous)” (3 wks)
- May 14: U2 “Sunday Bloody Sunday” (3 wks)
- June 4: The Police “Every Breath You Take” (8 wks)
- July 30: The Police “King of Pain” (7 wks)
- Sept. 17: Pat Benatar “Love Is a Battlefield” (4 wks)
- Oct. 15: Berlin “Masquerade” (1 wk)
- Oct. 22: Olivia Newton-John “Twist of Fate” (5 wks)
- Nov. 26: Yes “Owner of a Lonely Heart” (2 wks)
- Dec. 10: Journey “Ask the Lonely” (3 wks)
- Dec. 31: Paul McCartney “Pipes of Peace” (2 wks)
1984:
- Jan. 14: The Police “Wrapped Around Your Finger” (2 wks)
- Jan. 28: Nena “99 Red Balloons” (3 wks)
- Feb. 18: Genesis “Illegal Alien” (1 wk)
- Feb. 25: Yes “Leave It” (2 wks)
- Mar. 10: Night Ranger “Sister Christian” (1 wk)
- Mar. 17: Marillion “Fugazi” (1 wk)
- Mar. 24: Marillion “She Chameleon” (2 wks)
- Apr. 7: Styx “Music Time” (5 wks)
- May 12: Prince “When Doves Cry” (3 wks)
- June 2: Bruce Springsteen “Dancing in the Dark” (4 wks)
- June 30: Ray Parker, Jr. “Ghostbusters” (4 wks)
- July 28: Bruce Springsteen “Born in the U.S.A.” (4 wks)
- Aug. 25: Prince “Let’s Go Crazy” (2 wks)
- Sept. 8: Dennis DeYoung “Desert Moon” (6 wks)
- Oct. 20: Pat Benatar “We Belong” (1 wk)
- Oct. 27: Toto “Stranger in Town” (4 wks)
- Nov. 24: Don Henley “The Boys of Summer” (2 wks)
- Dec. 8: Tears for Fears “Shout” (2 wks)
- Dec. 22: Foreigner “I Want to Know What Love Is” (4 wks)
1985:
- Jan. 19: Don Henley “Sunset Grill” (2 wks)
- Feb. 2: Foreigner “That Was Yesterday” (1 wk)
- Feb. 9: The Alan Parsons Project “Let’s Talk About Me” (3 wks)
- Mar. 2: Sting “Moon Over Bourbon Street” (2 wks)
- Mar. 16: Simple Minds “Don’t You Forget About Me” (2 wks)
- Mar. 30: The Dream Academy “Life in a Northern Town” (2 wks)
- Apr. 13: Marillion “Kayleigh” (3 wks)
- May 4: Bruce Springsteen “Trapped” (2 wks)
- May 18: Hooters “All You Zombies” (2 wks)
- June 1: Bruce Springsteen “Glory Days” (2 wks)
- June 15: Dire Straits “Money for Nothing” (2 wks)
- June 29: Marillion “Childhood’s End?” (1 wk)
- July 6: Tears for Fears “Head Over Heels” (5 wks)
- Aug. 10: John Parr “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)” (2 wks)
- Aug. 24: U2 “Bad (live)” (3 wks)
- Sept. 14: Squeeze “I Won’t Ever Go Drinking Again (?)” (2 wks)
- Sept. 28: Prince “Purple Rain” (4 wks)
- Oct. 26: Olivia Newton-John “Soul Kiss” (2 wks)
- Nov. 9: Squeeze “Heartbreaking World” (4 wks)
- Dec. 7: Bruce Springsteen “My Hometown” (2 wks)
- Dec. 21: Sting “Russians” (3 wks)
1986:
- Jan. 11: Tears for Fears “When in Love with a Blind Man” (2 wks)
- Jan. 25: The Alan Parsons Project “Stereotomy” (4 wks)
- Feb. 22: Tony Banks with Fish “Shortcut to Somewhere” (4 wks)
- Mar. 22: Dennis DeYoung “Call Me” (5 wks)
- Apr. 26: The Moody Blues “Your Wildest Dreams” (4 wks)
- May 24: Roger Waters “Folded Flags” (2 wks)
- June 7: Double “The Captain of Her Heart” (2 wks)
- June 21: Furniture “Brilliant Mind” (4 wks)
- July 19: Berlin “Take My Breath Away” (2 wks)
- Aug. 2: Tom Cochrane with Red Rider “The Boy Inside the Man” (2 wks)
- Aug. 16: Billy Joel with Ray Charles “Baby Grand” (2 wks)
- Aug. 30: David + David “Welcome to the Boomtown” (6 wks)
- Oct. 11: The Police “Don’t Stand So Close to Me ‘86” (6 wks)
- Nov. 22: Bruce Springsteen “War (live)” (3 wks)
- Dec. 13: Huey Lewis & the News “Naturally” (2 wks)
- Dec. 27: The Bangles “Following” (4 wks)
1987:
- Jan. 24: The Alan Parsons Project “Standing on Higher Ground” (4 wks)
- Feb. 21: Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush “Don’t Give Up” (4 wks)
- Mar. 14: U2 “With or Without You” (3 wks)
- Apr. 4: XTC “Dear God” (6 wks)
- May 16: Marillion “Incommunicado” (2 wks)
- May 30: Marillion: “Going Under” (2 wks)
- June 13: Indigo Girls “Hey Jesus” (1 wk)
- June 20: Suzanne Vega “Luka” (4 wks)
- July 18: Terence Trent D’Arby “Wonderful World” (1 wk)
- July 25: Marillion “Sugar Mice” (2 wks)
- Aug. 8: Marillion “Tux On” (2 wks)
- Aug. 22: Marillion “Warm Wet Circles” (3 wks)
- Sept. 12: Pink Floyd “Learning to Fly” (2 wks)
- Sept. 26: R.E.M. “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” (2 wks)
- Oct. 10: Pink Floyd “One Slip” (2 wks)
- Oct. 24: Sting “Englishman in New York” (2 wks)
- Nov. 7: Sting “They Dance Alone” (4 wks)
- Dec. 5: Bruce Springsteen “Spare Parts” (2 wks)
- Dec. 19: The Rainmakers “The Wages of Sin” (3 wks)
1988:
- Jan. 9: Eurythmics “Brand New Day” (3 wks)
- Jan. 30: Lyle Lovett “She’s No Lady” (3 wks)
- Feb. 20: Lyle Lovett “Pontiac” (3 wks)
- Mar. 12: Kate Bush “This Woman’s Work” (4 wks)
- Apr. 9: Sting “Someone to Watch Over Me” (3 wks)
- Apr. 30: Everything But the Girl “Apron Strings” (2 wks)
- May 14: Tracy Chapman “Fast Car” (4 wks)
- June 11: Melissa Etheridge “Bring Me Some Water” (2 wks)
- June 25: Melissa Etheridge “Occasionally” (2 wks)
- July 9: Crowded House “Better Be Home Soon” (6 wks)
- Aug. 20: Rod Stewart “Forever Young” (3 wks)
- Sept. 10: Everything But the Girl “Oxford Street” (2 wks)
- Sept. 24: Everything But the Girl “The Night I Heard Caruso Sing” (1 wk)
- Oct. 1: Olivia Newton-John “It’s Not Heaven” (2 wks)
- Oct. 15: Shona Laing “Glad I’m Not a Kennedy” (3 wks)
- Nov. 5: U2 “God Part II” (4 wks)
- Dec. 3: Sting with Bruce Springsteen “Every Breath You Take (live)” (2 wk)
- Dec. 17: Bruce Springsteen with Sting “The River (live)” (1 wk)
- Dec. 24: The Bangles “Something to Believe In” (2 wks)
1989:
- Jan. 7: Guns N’ Roses “Patience” (3 wks)
- Jan. 28: Mike + the Mechanics “The Living Years” (2 wks)
- Feb. 11: Night Ranger “Reason to Be’ (2 wks)
- Feb. 25: Metallica “One” (5 wks)
- Apr. 1: Shona Laing “South” (2 wks)
- Apr. 15: Lyle Lovett “Nobody Knows Me” (2 wks)
- Apr. 29: Elvis Costello “Veronica’ (3 wks)
- May 20: Simple Minds “Biko” (3 wks)
- June 10: Simple Minds “Mandela Day” (2 wks)
- June 24: U2 “All I Want Is You” (2 wks)
- July 8: The Call “Let the Day Begin” (2 wks)
- July 22: Indigo Girls “Closer to Fine” (6 wks)
- Sept. 2: Tears for Fears “Sowing the Seeds of Love” (3 wks)
- Sept. 23: Melissa Etheridge “You Can Sleep While I Drive” (2 wks)
- Oct. 7: Squeeze “Slaughtered, Gutted, and Heartbroken” (2 wks)
- Oct. 21: Tracy Chapman “All That You Have Is Your Soul” (2 wks)
- Nov. 4: Madonna “Oh Father” (6 wks)
- Dec. 16: Tears for Fears “Woman in Chains” (3 wks)
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