UK Top 200 Best Selling Female Solo Hits Of The 80s

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12. LIKE A VIRGIN- Madonna (#3, 1984, 1,013,000)

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80s position: 6

And so a superstar was born, though “Holiday” was a top 10 hit some months before it was “Like A Virgin” that caused the controversy and announced the arrival of the most influential female soloist of the last 40 years. The Venice set video, the erotic Gondola dancing, it’s all here with some suggestive (for 1984) lyrics, and the public lapped it up making it the highest selling Non No 1 hit of the decade by a female soloist when the decade closed. She didn’t want to record the single when first heard, only when she couldn’t get it out of her head did she relent and pop history was born.


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Auntie Beryl

Auntie Beryl

If You Were A Woman etc was Desmond Child's first shot at that chorus. He went back to it a bit later with Bon Jovi and the rest is spandex.

There's an ace live version of Halcyon by Orbital which stirs in both You Give Love A Bad Name and Heaven Is A Place On Earth. Fair to say I was blown sideways by it when I first heard it a Tribal Gathering. (I may have taken vitamins).

And here it is, I think!

 
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gezza76

11. LIKE A PRAYER- Madonna (#1, 1989, 1,021,000)

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80s position: 35

Double Madonna and what a song to do it with! A blaze of publicity surrounded every new Madonna album and none more so than “Like A Prayer”. A deal with Pepsi which lasted just one screening thanks to its hugely controversial theme and religious imagery, all generated maximum publicity as the song effortlessly became her sixth chart topper in 1989. An attempt to reposition herself in the market to a more mature audience (she had after all turned 30 by this point) the single dealt with themes of redemption and Christianity, it successfully re-invented her for a new decade. It is the best selling song from her in terms of digital sales and must now be considered her signature track and shortly also her best seller!


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gezza76

gezza76

10. INTO THE GROOVE- Madonna (#1, 1985, 1,035,000)

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80s position: 4

OK triple Madonna!! This remains Madonna’s biggest selling single in her repertoire (for now), in 1985 it became her first chart topper widely due to being promoted via her first major film “Desperately Seeking Susan” and being unavailable on any album (though “Like A Virgin” was re-issued with this track added and topped the album chart finally). Whilst at No 1 it held off a resurgent “Holiday” making her the first female to date to hold the top 2 positions simultaneously on the singles chart (with Ariana Grande joining her in 2019).


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gezza76

09. TIME AFTER TIME- Cyndi Lauper (#3, 1984, 1,095,000)

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80s position: 34

Rumour was that the record company had little faith in Lauper as a writer but allowed her one song on the album and this is what she came up with, A US No 1 and top 3 here and in terms of 1984 alone she actually outsold Madonna on both sides of the Atlantic.


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discoteca

discoteca

gezza76 said:
13. HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH- Belinda Carlisle (#1, 1987, 1,007,000)

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80s position: 28

With a bit of Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio” thrown in for good measure, this Diane Warren song topped charts all over the world including here where it was a breakthrough solo hit for the former Go-go. The video incidentally features husband Morgan Mason, one of the Mamas & Papas on backing vocals, and was directed by Hollywood actress Diane Keaton- it was bound to be a hit. It took advantage of that January sales slump in 1988 and rose to the top for 2 weeks to become the first of three female chart toppers in a row for the first time in history. This has done very well in the digital age for some reason tripping over the million mark recently.


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One of the most anthemic songs of the 80s. That middle eight with the key change is bliss.
 
Cowboystyle

Cowboystyle

He/Him
Seeing Heaven On Earth, Into The Groove and Time After Time as million sellers just feels right. They’re all 80s classics in their own right and The Best and Holding about For A Hero are almost there. I’d love to See I Should Be So Lucky as a million seller one day too but looks like it may be a while yet. It’s the one Kylie single that feels like it should be a million seller.
 
gezza76

gezza76

08. FAME- Irene Cara (#1, 1980, 1,130,000)

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80s position: 2


Back in the days when TV programmes would take a while to make it across the Atlantic “Fame” was a top 5 hit in the US in 1980 and spawned a spin off TV series. Some 2 years later and “Fame” mania swept the UK, cue release of the single and a million seller though it loses traction on our list.


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07. WOMAN IN LOVE- Barbra Streisand (#1, 1980, 1,186,000)

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80s position: 3

Here’s the hat trick of Bee Gees gems they wrote for others during the decade. Quality will out and Streisand scored the second biggest selling single of 1980, perhaps it helped that there is a note held for 10 seconds which was, according to some, the longest held note on a chart topping single until beaten by Whitney Houston. Covers have been done by Dana International, and for younger members by Liz McLarnon in 2006 which made No 5. It doesn’t appear to be a big seller in the digital age though….


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