80s Top 10 Sales- Week By Week- 1984-1985

gezza76

gezza76

So with 1985 now done and dusted here are the top 10 singles acts of the year. Please note that I calculate these Y/E in the same way to give consistency and that means that if an act is credited on a record then they receive the full sales of that track so duets and features are included in the totals which is contrary to how the original Gallup tallies were drawn up.


10. DAVID BOWIE (804,000)


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A third year in the top 10 best selling acts is quite an achievement in pop and that's what Bowie does in the main thanks to the success of "Dancing In The Street" with Mick Jagger though he did chart separately with singles taken from the "Tonight" album, all in all business as usual for Bowie.

BEST SELLER: DANCING IN THE STREET (626,000)

09. PAUL HARDCASTLE (837,000)

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Making one of the most original tracks of the year into one of the biggest selling, "19" topped the charts for 5 weeks making it the joint longest runner of 1985 whilst also propelling a new form of dance music into the mainstream. Whilst he hasn't reached those heights since he now has 7 hits to his credit.

BEST SELLER: 19 (724,000)

08. UB40 (843,000)


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Last on this list back in 1983 UB40 found their mojo again this year topping the charts in tandem with Chrissie Hynde on a cover of "I Got You Babe" before striking it big with the B-side to that song "Don't Break My Heart".

BEST SELLER: I GOT YOU BABE (499,000)

07. WHAM! (882,000)

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Spending the vast bulk of 1985 away from the UK charts and conquering firstly the UK then China the duo saw strong sales of "Last Chirstmas" in both its original release held over from December 1984 and again on re-issue this month. In addition to that "I'm Your Man" became their third chart topper last month. Not bad considering, plus they are the only repeaters from the 1984 list.

BEST SELLER: I'M YOUR MAN (477,000)

06. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (918,000)

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Finally seeing his US success rub off on the UK Springsteen mania really exploded in the country with 4 top 20 singles and a chart topping album helping to generate sales of almost 1.4 million in that format. Not quite so impressive on the singles front but his star is still very bright here

BEST SELLER: DANCING IN THE DARK (398,000)
 
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gezza76

gezza76

05. KING (936,000)

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Coventry's biggest band, of 1985 at least, burst onto the chart scene back in January with the No 2 hit "Love & Pride" before scoring a further 3 top 30 singles and two top 20 albums. Though their "look" attracted a fair amount of negative press it certainly helped them to stand out in the pop crowd.

BEST SELLER: LOVE AND PRIDE (571,000)

04. TEARS FOR FEARS (959,000)

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Wham! weren't the only group to conquer the US in 1985, these lot did rather well too scoring a couple of chart toppers with "Shout" and "Everybody Wants To Rule The World". They did rather well here too grabbing a couple of top 5 singles with those same hits and even charting a fair whack of their back catalogue.

BEST SELLER: EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD (429,000)
 
Hairycub1969

Hairycub1969

Tears For Fears were MASSIVE in the USA back in 1985 - two number ones and both are STILL classic tunes!
All three singles:

1. Everybody wants to rule the world
2. Shout!
3. Head over heels

did better in the US charts then the UK charts:

1: US peak 1, UK peak 2
2: US peak 1, UK peak 4
3: US peak 3, UK peak 12
 
Eric Generic

Eric Generic

Hairycub1969 said:
Tears For Fears were MASSIVE in the USA back in 1985 - two number ones and both are STILL classic tunes!
All three singles:

1. Everybody wants to rule the world
2. Shout!
3. Head over heels

did better in the US charts then the UK charts:

1: US peak 1, UK peak 2
2: US peak 1, UK peak 4
3: US peak 3, UK peak 12
Click to expand...

Poor "Mothers Talk", haha. They re-mixed/re-recorded it completely for the US market, 18 months after it hit #14 as the 1st UK single. It peaked at #27. I doubt "I Believe" was released at all.
 
Eric Generic

Eric Generic

Yes it is that one....I loved everything from the era, and tried to get this 7" on import to no avail in 1986. Waited about 10-15 years to get it on CD via a TFF collection.

But it's nothing on the original.
 
gezza76

gezza76

03. JENNIFER RUSH (1,165,000)
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Providing the UK with its only million selling single "The Power Of Love" Jennifer Rush has had an excellent year. With new single "Ring Of Ice" currently perched at No 29 she'll be hoping it can explode in the new year to maintain her career, and to think "Power Of Love" took a re-issue and hung around in the lower regions of the charts for months before it finally clicked!

BEST SELLER: THE POWER OF LOVE (1,144,000)

02. PHIL COLLINS (1,268,000)

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A man with many hats in 1985 and all of them turned out to be successful. Three solo top 20 hits plus a No 4 hit in tandem with Marilyn Martin and then of course a 4 week chart topper with Philip Bailey all topped up the bank balance and his sales during the year, his third album "No Jacket Required" also went to No 1 (this time for 5 weeks) and sold just over a million copies in 10 months!

BEST SELLER: EASY LOVER (547,000)
 
gezza76

gezza76

1. MADONNA (2,736,000)
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THE woman and indeed the act of 1985 nothing could have stopped the Madonna bandwagon this year. She became the first act ever to have 8 top 5 singles in a year which included the chart topping "Into The Groove", as well as a No 1 album "Like A Virgin" which sold a million copies along with a back catalogue which continued to sell well ("Holiday" made No 2 and her debut album sold another 250,000 copies). She also starred in the film "Desperately Seeking Susan" which was a box office hit meaning that everything the material girl touched in the year as an unqualified success.


BEST SELLER: INTO THE GROOVE (746,000)
 
Hairycub1969

Hairycub1969

Thank you Gezza76 - it's been fascinating as well as exciting seeing each top ten of 1985 unfold. I look forward to 1986!

As you know I'm logging a spreadsheet of all the songs/sales. Some stats for you:

We've had 808 songs that have been in the top ten during 1980 to 1985

Number 1: Band Aid - Do they know it's Christmas - now on 2,599,00 sales
Number 404: Modern Romance - The best years of our lives - 177,000 sales
number 808: Bucks Fizz - If you can't stand the heat - 25,000 sales

I am planning to create a Spotify playlist of all the songs (well, all the ones available on spotify) once we've finished with the decade's sales numbers (for their top ten duration) in sales order from highest to lowest - should be fun and a great playlist to have - happy to send a link once it's all completed. It's a big project that will help combat my OCD urges for a while!
 
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