Best of 1983 - The Singles List

The year 1982 was all about Michael Jackson's Thriller which became the best selling album of all time. The video for the song proved to be challenging for the MTV airwaves and it is also considered as one of the best videos of all time. Along with Michael Jackson's success other artists followed; David Bowie released Let's Dance, his most commercial album to date and ladies rocked too, Madonna and Cyndi Lauper released their debuts too exploring the weird and unconventional and Kim Wilde won the Brit Award for best British female artist. 

In 1982, the first compact discs were produced in Germany and were already sold in Japan during the third quarter of the same year. In 1983 they also went on sale in the USA and they will certainly revolutionize the music industry in the coming years. 

New Wave slowly faded into Pop and its biggest stars of the decade Michal Jackson, Madonna, Prince and George Michael will rule the charts for the rest of the decade and beyond.

 

The following Top 50 represents the result of the 'Best of 1983 - The Singles List' poll from 2013 together with our in-house votes. 

Updated: 06/2020

01. New Order- Blue Monday 
02. Depeche Mode- Everything Counts 
03. The Smiths- This Charming Man 
04. Michael Jackson - Thriller 
05. The Sisters of Mercy- Temple of Love 
06. Simple Minds- New Gold Dream 81-82-83-84 
07. Frankie Goes To Hollywood- Relax 
08. Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) 
09. The The- This is the Day 
10. Siouxsie and The Banshees- Dear Prudence 
11. Yazoo- Nobody's Diary 
12. Echo & The Bunnymen- The Cutter 
13. U2- New Year’s Day 
14. David Bowie – Let's Dance
15. Cyndi Lauper- Girls Just Wanna have Fun
16. Pat Benetar - Love is a Battlefield 
17. Talking Heads - Burning Down The House 
18. R.E.M.- Radio Free Europe 
19. Spandau Ballet - True 
20. PIL- This is not a Love Song 

Best of 2012- The Singles List

01. Arcade Fire- Sprawl (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
02. DIIV- Doused
03. Chromatics- Cherry
04. Twilight Sad- Another Bed
05. Liz and Laszlo- Rien a Paris
06. Bat for Lashes- Laura
07. Trust-Sulk 
08. Grizzly Bear- Yet Again
09. iamamiwhoami- goods
10. School of Seven Bells- Scavenger
11. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds- We No Who U R
12. The Temper Trap- Miracle
13. Twin Shadow- The One
14. Light Asylum- Shallow Tears
15. Perfume Genius- All Waters
16. The Irrepressibles- New World
17. Sky Ferreira- Everything is Embarrassing
18. Ultraista- Bad Insect
19. Future Islands- Tomorrow
20. Wild Nothing- Paradise

Best of 1982 - The Singles List

After having been propelled further by the New Romantic movement and becoming much easier to handle, Synthesizers became dominant in pop music and a possible formula for future success. The Human League were still ruling the charts and won the BRIT Award for the best Breakthrough act. Following their success story other bands like Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Soft Cell adopted synthesizers as main instruments which had an impact in launching of the Second British Invasion in the US. This  brought the new styles, rhythms and stars to the States including Duran Duran, The Human League, Eurythmics, Billy Idol and more. Sadly some of the great bands from late 70's and early 80's disbanded which included most notably Blondie, Adam and The Ants, Abba and Japan.

During our 30 year anniversary of 1982 in 2011, the following albums were voted Top 50 singles by Burning Flame friends and readers including in-house votes.

Updated: 06/2020

01. Yaz(oo)- Don't Go 

02. Tears for Fears- Mad World 

03. Heaven 17- Let Me Go 

04. Talk Talk- Talk Talk 

05. Yazoo- Situation 

06. Duran Duran- Rio 

07. Tears for Fears- Pale Shelter 

08. Eurythmics- Love is a Stranger

09. A Flock of Seagulls- I Ran (So Far Away) 

10. Japan- Ghosts 

Best of 1981 - Top 50 Singles List

Following the tragic death of John Lennon in December 1980, the world was still in mourning after the loss of one of the most influential musical masterminds of all time. All this did also had impact on the charts as where his biggest hits "Woman" and "Imagine" could be found again. Even Roxy Music paid tribute to him by covering "Jealous Guy".

Apart from this, the charts were still dominated by the rising stars of 1980, Adam and the Ants while The Police had more hits. Human League re-formed this year exiting the dark phase and releasing "Don't You Want Me Baby" which together with Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" helped to emblem the music style which would in the coming years be known as Synth-pop.

Along with the increasing popularity of synth driven music, the New Romantic movement slowly grew to fame as new kids adopted synths and started wearing lipstick. Perhaps the biggest event of the year was the launch of MTV which aired "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles. The song became a huge hit and a symbol for the new platform which would give the music industry a new face and dimension.

 

 During our 30 year anniversary of 1981 in 2011, the following album were voted Top 50 singles by Burning Flame friends and readers including in-house votes.

Updated: 05/2020

01. Ultravox- Vienna 
02. The Cure- Charlotte Sometimes 
03. The Human League- Don't You Want Me 
04. Siouxsie and the Banshees- Spellbound 
05. New Order- Ceremony 
06. Soft Cell- Tainted Love 
07. Talking Heads- Once in a Lifetime 
08. Duran Duran- Planet Earth 
09. Ultravox-The Voice 
10. Japan- Quiet Life 
11. Depeche Mode - Just Can't Get Enough 
12. Simple Minds- Love Song 
13. Kraftwerk- Computer Love 
14. The Specials - Ghost Town 
15. Heaven 17 -We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang 
16. David Bowie - Up The Hill Backwards 
17. Kim Wilde - Kids in America 
18. Depeche Mode- New Life 
19. Men At Work - Down Under 
20. Soft Cell - Memorabilia 

Best of 2011- The Singles List

Another great year is coming to an end. Here are the highlights from our monthly round ups and the year end list with Top 30 official single releases. The album list coming up next week!

01. Austra - Spellwork
02. The Horrors - Still Life
03. The Ropes - Lack of Technology Made Me a Killer
04. PJ Harvey - The Glorious Land/ On Battleship Hill
05. Duran Duran - Girl Panic
06. Twin Shadow - Changes
07. Still Corners - Cuckoo
08. Section 25 - Colour, Movement, Sex & Violence
09. Brett Anderson - Brittle Heart
10. A Terrible Splendour - Slaves To The City

Best of 1980 - Top 50 Singles List

It was an interesting year at the crossroads still very influenced by the 70's music and culture but also slowly opening the doors to the new decade and adopting new trends and styles. Blondie, Abba, The Police and The Jam still ruled the charts. David Bowie scored his second number one hit this year while Kate Bush became the first British female artist to have a No.1 album. It was also a sad year in music as the music world lost two very influential musical artists and iconic figures. Ian Curtis of Joy Division hanged himself just days before the US Tour kick off and John Lennon was shot dead outside his apartment building in New York City, both leaving their families and thousands of fans in mourning and sorrow. The year ended with John Lennon's song "{Just Like) Starting Over" reaching number one in the UK charts announcing the new decade.

During our 30 year anniversary of 1980 in 2010, the following albums were voted Top 50 Singles by Burning Flame friends and readers including in-house votes.

Updated: 05/2020

01. Joy Division- Love Will Tear Us Apart 

02. Visage- Fade to Grey 

03. Orchestral Manouvers in the Dark- Enola Gay 

04. Joy Division- Atmosphere 

05. David Bowie- Ashes to Ashes

06. The Cure- A Forest 

07. Spandau Ballet- To Cut A Long Story Short

08. Blondie- Atomic 

09. The Korgis - Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes 

10. Siouxsie and the Banshees- Happy House 

11. Peter Gabriel- Games Without The Frontiers 
12. Robert Palmer - Johnny and Mary

13. John Foxx- Underpass

14. Martha and The Muffins- Echo Beach

15. The Clash - Train in Vain
16. The Jam- Going Underground

17. Kate Bush- Babooska 

18. The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated

19. Bauhaus - Dark Entries

20. Ultravox- Passing Strangers 

Best of 2010- The Singles List

01. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti- Round and Round/ Bright Lit Blue Skies

02. The Ropes- Love is a Chain Store

03. MGMT- Siberian Breaks

04. Get Well Soon- Angry Young Man

05. Radio Dept- Heaven’s on Fire

06. Warpaint- Undertow

07. The National- Bloodbuzz Ohio

08. Groove Armada- History

09. Beach House - Zebra

10. Crystal Castles- Celestica

11. Clinic- I’m Aware

12. The National  Anyone's Ghost

13. Hooverphonic- The Night Before

14. Groove Armada- Look me in the Eyes Sister

15. New Young Pony Club - Chaos

16. Yeasayer- Madder Red

17. Memorybeach- To The Lighthouse

18. Delphic- Halcyon

19. Janelle Monae- Cold War

20.Andy Bell- Running Out

Best of 2009 - The Singles List

The best singles of 2009!

01.a-ha- Foot of the Mountain
02.Bat for Lashes- Daniel
03.Detachments- The Flowers That Fell
04.Florence + The Machine- Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)
05.Mando Diao- Dance With Somebody
06.White Lies- Farewell to the Fairground
07.Pet Shop Boys- Love etc.
08.Depeche Mode- Fragile Tension
09.Fleet Foxes- Mykonos / False Knight on the Road
10. Editors- Papillon
11.Animal Collective- Summertime Clothes
12.Phoenix- Lisztomania
13. Florence + The Machine- You've Got the Love
14.Little Boots- Remedy
15.La Roux- Bulletproof
16.The Radio Dept.-David
17.Kasabian- Underdog
18. Camera Obscura- The Sweetest Thing
19. Noisettes-Never Forget You
20.White Lies- To Lose My Life
21.Natalie Imbruglia- Want
22.Empire of the Sun- We Are the People
23.Röyksopp- The Girl and the Robot
24.Metric- Help I'm Alive / Help I'm a B-Side
25.Animal Collective- My Girls

26.Depeche Mode- Perfect 27.Little Boots- Earthquake
28.Tiga- Shoes
29.Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson- Relator
30. Ladyhawke- Magic
31.Muse- Undisclosed Desires
32.Patrick Wolf- Vulture
33.Fleet Foxes- Your Protector
34. Metric- Sick Muse
35. Lily Allen- 22
36. Morrissey- I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
37. Voxtrot- Trepanation Party
38.Datarock- Give It Up
39.Bat for Lashes- Pearl's Dream
40. Music Go Music- Warm in the Shadows
41. Sonic Youth- Antenna
42. a-ha- Shadowside
43. Franz Ferdinand- Ulysses
44.Hockey- Song Away
45. Muse- United States of Eurasia
46. Doves- Kingdom of Rust
47.Simple Minds- Rockets
48.Bad Lieutenant- Sink or Swim
49.Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Zero
50.Tesla Boy- Electric Lady

Best of 2008- The Singles List

The big year of Australian electropop, indietronica and alternative dance. What else was hot, see in the list below...

01.MGMT- Time to Pretend
02.Radiohead- All I Need
03.Portishead- The Rip
04.Kleerup-Longing for Lullabies
05.M83- Kim and Jessie
06.Fleet Foxes- He Doesn't Know Why
07.The Last Shadow Puppets- Standing Next to Me
08.Brian Eno & David Byrne- Strange Overtones
09.Empire of the Sun- We Are the People
10.MGMT- Electric Feel

Best of 2007- The Singles List

01. Klaxons - Golden Skans
02. Manic Street Preachers - Autumnsong
03. The Rakes - Suspicious Eyes
04. The Shins - Phantom Limb
05. Interpol - No I In Threesome
06. Andrew Bird - Fiery Crash
07. Erasure - I Could Fall In Love With You
08. Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
09. The Knife - Marble House
10. Chromatics - Hands in the Dark
11. Amy Winehouse - Tears Dry On Their Own
12. Cold War Kids - We Used To Vacation
13. Debbie Harry - Two Times Blue
14. Digitalism - Pogo
15. Duran Duran - Falling Down
16. Panda Bear - Take Pills
17. Bruce Springsteen - Radio Nowhere
18. Arcade Fire - Intervention
19. Paul Haig - Reason
20. Modest Mouse - Dashboard
21. Of Montreal - Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse
22. Rooney - When Did Your Heart Go Missing
23. Siouxsie Sioux - Into A Swan
24. Radiohead - 15 Step
25. The National - Mistaken For Strangers