I was 15 in the summer of 1982 and was pretty enthralled with the popular music of the day. When my local top 40 radio station did a countdown of their all-time songs, I decided to emulate the list and make my own. It turned into my own weekly countdown list which I maintained all through high school, college, and even into my young adult years. I consider it ground zero for my fascination with charts. At the end of 1982, based on those charts, here were my biggest songs of the year:
1. Styx “Babe” (1979)
2. Soft Cell “Tainted Love” (1981)
3. Olivia Newton-John “Heart Attack” (1982)
4. Journey “Open Arms” (1981)
5. Styx “The Best of Times” (1981)
6. Climax Blues Band “I Love You” (1980)
7. Asia “Only Time Will Tell” (1982)
8. Toto “Rosanna” (1982)
9. The Alan Parsons Project “Eye in the Sky” (1982)
10. Journey “Who’s Crying Now” (1981)
11. Olivia Newton-John “Physical” (1981)
12. Olivia Newton-John “Make a Move on Me” (1981)
13. Journey “Still They Ride” (1981)
14. Styx “Reneage” (1978)
15. Chicago “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” (1982)
16. Steve Miller Band “Abracadabra” (1982)
17. Air Supply “Here I Am” (1981)
19. Air Supply “Sweet Dreams” (1980)
20. Billy Joel “Pressure” (1982)
21. Olivia Newton-John “Magic” (1980)
22. Joe Jackson “Steppin’ Out” (1982)
23. Journey “Don’t Stop Believin’” (1981)
24. John Cougar Mellencamp “Jack and Diane” (1982)
25. Queen “Body Language” (1982)
26. Olivia Newton-John & Cliff Richard “Suddenly” (1980)
27. J. Geils Band “Freeze Frame” (1981)
28. Vangelis “Chariots of Fire” (1981)
29. The Beatles “Fixing a Hole” (1967)
30. Steel Breeze “You Don’t Want Me Anymore” (1982)
31. Olivia Newton-John “Suspended in Time” (1980)
32. Air Supply “The One That You Love” (1981)
33. Toto “Africa” (1982)
34. Charlene “I’ve Never Been to Me” (1977)
35. Daryl Hall & John Oates “Maneater” (1982)
36. Neil Diamond “America” (1981)
37. Neil Diamond “Love on the Rocks” (1980)
38. America “You Can Do Magic” (1982)
39. Electric Light Orchestra “The Fall” (1980)
40. Kenny Rogers “Coward of the County” (1979)
41. Kenny Rogers “Lady” (1980)
42. Electric Light Orchestra “I’m Alive” (1980)
43. Olivia Newton-John & Electric Light Orchestra “Xanadu” (1980)
44. REO Speedwagon “Keep on Loving You” (1980)
45. Foreigner “Waiting for a Girl Like You” (1981)
46. Air Supply “Don’t Turn Me Away” (1981)
47. Air Supply “Young Love” (1982)
48. Kansas “Play the Game Tonight” (1982)
49. Neil Diamond “Hello Again” (1981)
50. Paul McCartney “Take It Away” (1982)
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First posted 12/1/2018; last updated 6/29/2022. | 
