1980
- 05/01/80 Preview of 1980 (though the date on the cover actually states 05/01/79)
- 12/01/80 Pink Military
- 19/01/80 The Jam
- 26/01/80 The Pretenders
- 02/02/80 Iggy Pop
- 09/02/80 The Specials
- 16/02/80 Rockabilly
- 23/02/80 The Selecter
- 01/03/80 Joe Ely
- 08/03/80 The Beat
- 15/03/80 Tom Petty
- 22/03/80 Paul Weller of The Jam
- 29/03/80 Women in Rock
- 05/04/80 The Teardrop Explodes
- 12/04/80 The Police
- 19/04/80 Pete Townshend of The Who
- 26/04/80 Feargal Sharkey of The Undertones
- no NME issues for six weeks due to an NUJ strike
- 14/06/80 Ian Curtis
- 21/06/80 Gang of Four
- 28/06/80 Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones
- 05/07/80 Keith Levene of Public Image Ltd.
- 12/07/80 The Human League
- 19/07/80 Ian Dury and Wilko Johnson
- 26/07/80 Impressions of Japan (the country, not the band), with lead story on the Yellow Magic Orchestra
- 02/08/80 The Selecter
- 09/08/80 Malcolm McLaren
- 16/08/80 The Beat
- 23/08/80 NME Consumers Guide 1984
- 30/08/80 Stray Cats
- 06/09/80 A Certain Ratio
- 13/09/80 David Bowie
- 20/09/80 XTC
- 27/09/80 The Specials
- 04/10/80 Madness
- 11/10/80 Au Pairs
- 18/10/80 The Pretenders
- 25/10/80 Toyah Willcox
- 01/11/80 Captain Beefheart
- 08/11/80 Talking Heads
- 15/11/80 Brit funk
- 22/11/80 Echo & the Bunnymen
- 29/11/80 Cabaret Voltaire
- 06/12/80 UB40
- 13/12/80 John Lennon (following his death)
- 20/12/80 various images (Christmas issue)
Read more about this topic: List Of NME Covers