List of 1980s UK Singles Chart Number Ones

List Of 1980s UK Singles Chart Number Ones

The UK Singles Chart is the official record chart in the United Kingdom. Until 1983, it was compiled weekly by the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) on behalf of the British record industry with a two-week break each Christmas. The BMRB used motorcycle couriers to collect the sales figures taken up to the close of trade on Saturday. This data was compiled on Monday and given to the BBC on Tuesday to be announced on Johnnie Walker's afternoon show and later published in Music Week. On 4 January 1983, the chart was taken over by Gallup who expanded the chart from the Top 75 to the Top 100 and began the introduction of computerised tills which automated the data collection process. The chart was based entirely on sales of physical singles from retail outlets and announced on Tuesday until October 1987, when the Top 40 was revealed each Sunday, due to the new automated process.

In terms of number-one singles, Madonna was the most successful single act of the decade, as six of her singles reached the top spot. George Michael had significant involvement with seven number-one singles; with two number-one singles as a solo artist, four as a member of pop duo Wham!, and one as a duet with Aretha Franklin. The longest duration of a single at number one was nine weeks, achieved by Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Two Tribes" in 1984. Thirteen records that reached number one in the 1980s sold over one million copies, as did one record that reached number two. Eight other songs from the 1980s also sold over one million copies; two following re-release in a subsequent decade and six following the introduction of music downloads. Charity single, "Do They Know It's Christmas?", was released by Band Aid in 1984 to raise money for the famine in Ethiopia. The record sold over 3.5 million copies and, in doing so, became the best-ever selling single beating the benchmark set by Wings' song "Mull of Kintyre" in 1977. "Do They Know It's Christmas?" was also the best-selling song of the decade and was not surpassed in physical sales until 1997, when Elton John re-wrote "Candle in the Wind 1997" after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

The 1980s saw the introduction of the cassette single (or "cassingle") alongside the 7-inch and 12-inch record formats and in 1987 major record labels developed a common format for the Compact Disc single. For the chart week ending 3 May 1989, chart regulations confined Kylie Minogue's song "Hand on Your Heart" to number two. Minogue would have reached number one if sales from cassette singles were included but they were sold for £1.99 – cheaper than was allowed at the time. Following the debacle the British Phonographic Industry reduced the minimum price for cassette singles to become eligible towards sales figures.