UK Singles Chart: The 1980s

For me the 80s has always been a decade of 2 halves, the half I remember and the half I don't. However, it would seem these are the 2 halves of the 80s from a music perspective as well.

The so called big four began their chart careers at various points between 1980-82 but their time of glory all finished in 1986 with Wham! and Culture Club splitting, Spandau Ballet having just one minor hit left in them and a Duran Duran in decline which no longer had the classic lineup.

The synth pop sound started to gradually build from the start of the decade with new acts establishing themselves year after year without the older ones still relevant, but then in 1986 along come Pet Shop Boys and Erasure and its very much out with the old and in with the new.

It's well documented how Stock Aitken & Waterman dominated the charts in the late 80s and does take some credit for killing off pop music from the earlier part of the decade. The difference though was it was no longer about the names, it was more to do with the fact they were from the Stock Aitken & Waterman camp.

This was somewhat reflected in the house music which possibly had something to do with the decline of synth pop. The artists behind these tracks were mainly faceless, MARRS had a number one with "Pump Up the Volume" but how many people could name a single member or recognise any of them down the street. Also, how many people knew that Black Box, Starlight and Mixmaster were all the same people.

Interestingly the three acts who scored a hit every year in the 80s were acts that didn't really fit in with any 80s scene. There was Cliff Richard who started out in the 50s, Shakin Stevens who was essentially a 50s act in the 80s and UB40 a reggae group not from Jamaica.

The same could be said of the older acts that had a good chart run in the 80s such as David Bowie, Elton John, Status Quo, Queen and Rod Stewart who all had over 30 hits to their name by the end of the decade. None of the 60s acts managed to do this in the 70s with Frank Sinatra and Lonnie Donegan being third and fourth in terms of most hits despite their chart careers being as good as over.

What is surprising is the lack of Hip Hop we had in the charts throughout the decade. It was clearly an established genre give the likes of Blondie and Adam & the Ants were getting in on the act, not to mention the novelty records. When the number of Hip Hop records did increase towards the end of the decade it seemed somewhat overshadowed by Hip House.

So its the 90s next, a decade we know the quantity of hits went up and a decade I can remember in it's entirety.