1981 in British music
| 1980s in music in the UK | |
| Number-one singles | |
| Number-one albums | |
| Best-selling singles | |
| Best-selling albums | |
| Summaries and charts 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 | |
| ←1979 | 1990→ |
| Top 10 singles 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 | |
| ←1979 | 1990→ |
This is a summary of 1981 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
Events
- 9 February - Phil Collins releases his first solo album (although he will not leave the band Genesis until 1995)
- 14 February - Billy Idol leaves Generation X to begin a solo career
- 4 April - Bucks Fizz win the Eurovision Song Contest with "Making Your Mind Up"
- 7 April - Former Who manager Kit Lambert dies after falling down a flight of stairs in his mother's home in London.
- 17 April - Eric Clapton is released from St. Paul's Hospital in Minnesota following a month-long treatment for bleeding ulcers.
- 18 April - Yes announce that they are breaking up. (They would however reunite frequently in years to come).
- 25 April - Paul McCartney's band, Wings, breaks up
- 2 May - Working as a local wedding singer 12 months previously, Scottish vocalist Sheena Easton hits No.1 in the US with "Morning Train (9 to 5)"
- 11 May - The musical Cats begins its 8,949 performance run on London's West End.
- August - the success of Stars On 45 leads to a short-lived medley craze. The most successful imitator of the Stars On 45 format is, rather unexpectedly, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra whose "Hooked On Classics (Parts 1&2)" reaches number two in the charts.
- 14 September - Emma Kirkby and Gothic Voices record the album A Feather on the Breath of God in St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London.
- 17 October - Performance artist Laurie Anderson achieves a surprise #2 hit when her eight-minute experimental song O Superman is championed by Radio 1 DJ John Peel.
Charts
Number-one singles
| Issue Date | Song | Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 3 January | "There's No-one Quite Like Grandma" | St Winifred's School Choir |
| 10 January | "Imagine" | John Lennon |
| 17 January | ||
| 24 January | ||
| 31 January | ||
| 7 February | "Woman" | |
| 14 February | ||
| 21 February | "Shaddap You Face" | Joe Dolce Music Theatre |
| 28 February | ||
| 7 March | ||
| 14 March | "Jealous Guy" | Roxy Music |
| 21 March | ||
| 28 March | "This Ole House" | Shakin' Stevens |
| 4 April | ||
| 11 April | ||
| 18 April | "Making Your Mind Up" | Bucks Fizz |
| 25 April | ||
| 2 May | ||
| 9 May | "Stand and Deliver" | Adam and the Ants |
| 16 May | ||
| 23 May | ||
| 30 May | ||
| 6 June | ||
| 13 June | "Being With You" | Smokey Robinson |
| 20 June | ||
| 27 June | "One Day In Your Life" | Michael Jackson |
| 4 July | ||
| 11 July | "Ghost Town" | The Specials |
| 18 July | ||
| 25 July | ||
| 1 August | "Green Door" | Shakin' Stevens |
| 8 August | ||
| 15 August | ||
| 22 August | ||
| 29 August | "Japanese Boy" | Aneka |
| 5 September | "Tainted Love" | Soft Cell |
| 12 September | ||
| 19 September | "Prince Charming" | Adam and the Ants |
| 26 September | ||
| 3 October | ||
| 10 October | ||
| 17 October | "It's My Party" | Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin |
| 24 October | ||
| 31 October | ||
| 7 November | ||
| 14 November | "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" | The Police |
| 21 November | "Under Pressure" | Queen and David Bowie |
| 28 November | ||
| 5 December | "Begin the Beguine" | Julio Iglesias |
| 12 December | "Don't You Want Me" | The Human League |
| 19 December | ||
| 26 December |
Number-one albums
| Issue Date | Title | Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 3 January | Super Trouper | ABBA |
| 10 January | ||
| 17 January | ||
| 24 January | Kings of the Wild Frontier | Adam and the Ants |
| 31 January | ||
| 7 February | Double Fantasy | John Lennon and Yoko Ono |
| 14 February | ||
| 21 February | Face Value | Phil Collins |
| 28 February | ||
| 7 March | ||
| 14 March | Kings of the Wild Frontier | Adam and the Ants |
| 21 March | ||
| 28 March | ||
| 4 April | ||
| 11 April | ||
| 18 April | ||
| 25 April | ||
| 2 May | ||
| 9 May | ||
| 16 May | ||
| 23 May | Stars on 45 | Starsound |
| 30 May | ||
| 6 June | ||
| 13 June | ||
| 20 June | ||
| 27 June | No Sleep 'til Hammersmith | Motörhead |
| 4 July | Disco Daze and Disco Nites | Various Artists |
| 11 July | Love Songs | Cliff Richard |
| 18 July | ||
| 25 July | ||
| 1 August | ||
| 8 August | ||
| 15 August | The Official BBC Album of the Royal Wedding | Various Artists |
| 22 August | ||
| 29 August | Time | Electric Light Orchestra |
| 5 September | ||
| 12 September | Dead Ringer | Meat Loaf |
| 19 September | ||
| 26 September | Abacab | Genesis |
| 3 October | ||
| 10 October | Ghost in the Machine | The Police |
| 17 October | ||
| 24 October | ||
| 31 October | Dare | The Human League |
| 7 November | Shaky | Shakin' Stevens |
| 14 November | Greatest Hits | Queen |
| 21 November | ||
| 28 November | ||
| 5 December | ||
| 12 December | Chart Hits '81 | Various Artists |
| 19 December | The Visitors | ABBA |
| 26 December |
Year-end charts
The tables below include sales between 1 January and 31 December 1981: the year-end charts reproduced in the issue of Music Week dated 26 December 1981 and played on Radio 1 on 3 January 1982 only include sales figures up until 12 December 1981.
Best-selling singles
Best-selling albums
Notes:
Classical music: new works
- Peter Maxwell Davies - Piano Sonata
- George Lloyd - Symphony No 10, November Journeys (for brass)
- Adrian Williams - String Quartet No. 2
Opera
Musical theatre
- 11 May - Cats, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, opens in London's West End.
- 16 December - Alan Ayckbourn's Making Tracks, with music by Paul Todd, opens at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough.
Musical films
Births
- 11 January
- Jamelia, singer
- Tom Meighan, lead singer of Kasabian
- 19 January - Thaila Zucchi, English singer (allSTARS*) and actress
- 24 February - Gwilym Simcock, pianist and composer
- 11 March - Russell Lissack, guitarist with Bloc Party
- 13 March - Ivo Neame, jazz pianist and saxophonist
- 26 March - Jay Sean, singer
- 1 April - Hannah Spearritt, actress and singer (S Club 7)
- 7 April - Kelli Young, singer (Liberty X)
- 10 April - Liz McClarnon, singer (Atomic Kitten)
- 21 April - Mike Christie, baritone (G4)
- 26 April - Ms Dynamite, singer
- 5 May - Craig David, singer
- 20 May - Sean Conlon, musician (5ive)
- 23 May - Gwenno Saunders, singer
- 22 June - Chris Urbanowicz, guitarist (Editors)
- 23 June - Antony Costa, singer (Blue)
- 12 July - Rebecca Hunter, singer (allSTARS*)
- 19 July - Didz Hammond, English singer and bass player (Dirty Pretty Things and The Cooper Temple Clause)
- 8 August - Bradley McIntosh, singer (S Club 7)
- 11 August - Sandi Thom, singer-songwriter
- 2 September - Paul Jennings, drummer
- 29 September - Suzanne Shaw, British singer (Hear'Say) and actress
- 10 October - Una Healy,Irish singer (The Saturdays)
- 13 October -Kele Okereke, English singer (Bloc Party)
- 17 November - Sarah Harding, British singer (Girls Aloud)
- 20 November - Kimberley Walsh, British singer (Girls Aloud)
- 26 November - Natasha Bedingfield, singer
- 19 December - Sam Bloom, singer (allSTARS*)
Deaths
- 19 February – Olive Gilbert, actress and singer, 82
- 21 February – Ron Grainer, Australian-born electronic music pioneer and composer involved with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, 58 (spinal cancer)
- 10 March - Bill Hopkins, pianist, composer and critic, 37 (heart attack)
- 7 April - Kit Lambert, manager and producer, 45
- 8 April - Eric Rogers, composer, 59
- 14 April - Christian Darnton, composer, 75
- 21 April - Ivor Newton, pianist and accompanist, 88
- 12 May - Frank Weir, orchestra leader and jazz musician, 70
- 15 October – Elsie Randolph, actress, dancer and singer, 77
- 13 December - Cornelius Cardew, experimental music composer, 45 (hit-and-run car accident)[6]
- date unknown
- Frank Merrick, pianist, 95
- Albert Ernest Sims, composer, conductor and music director of The Central Band of H.M. Royal Air Force, 85[7]
See also
- 1981 in British radio
- 1981 in British television
- 1981 in the United Kingdom
- List of British films of 1981
References
- ↑ Scaping, Peter, ed. (1982). "The Top 200 Singles: January–December 1981". BPI Year Book 1982 (5th ed.). London, England: The British Phonographic Industry Ltd. pp. 46–49. ISBN 0-906154-03-0.
- ↑ Jones, Alan; Lazell, Barry; Rees, Dafydd (1982). "The Top 200 Singles (UK)". Chart File 1982. London, England: Virgin Books. pp. 74–77. ISBN 0-907080-49-9.
- ↑ Scaping (1982). "The Top 200 LPs: January–December 1981". pp. 50–53.
- ↑ Jones; Lazell; Rees (1982). "The Top 200 Albums (UK)". pp. 78–81.
- ↑ Dean, Winton (1981). "Music in London: Anna Karenina". The Musical Times Vol. 122, No. 1661 (July 1981), p. 487. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
- ↑ Tilbury, John. Cornelius Cardew: A Life Unfinished Harlow: Copula, an imprint of Matchless Recordings and Publishing, 2008. ISBN 978-0-9525492-3-9
- ↑ Bierley, Paul E; Rehrig, William H (1991). The heritage encyclopedia of band music : composers and their music. Westerville, Ohio: Integrity Press. ISBN 0-918048-08-7.
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