21st November 1981 for two weeks

Ok, so this is hard to admit. I am honestly disappointed when I hear the riff for Under Pressure start and it doesn’t turn into Ice Ice Baby.

Having not really been of the Eighties era, I clearly remember Ice Ice Baby and was surprised to learn that the riff was based on another song.

So I guess I have only learned to appreciate Under Pressure in later years. I love the crescendo and even the part that David Bowie sings (considering that I think his music was rubbish).

It has probably always been considered a classic, but, at 40, I now agree.

9/10

14th November 1981 for one week

It’s hard to comprehend how this gem of a song by The Police spent just one week at the top after It’s My Party was at the top for four weeks!

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic is a classic song. It retains a familiar Police sound, but it has something distinctive about it which makes it sounds fresh and different. It’s one of the best songs of 1981 to reach the top!

I can’t remember when I first became aware of the song but it has been used many times in TV shows and I do recall hearing it on the radio when I was younger. It still sounds great, 39 years later.

9/10

5th September 1981 for two weeks

Tainted Love is an absolute classic! It is a song that stays with you. It sounds great on the dance floor, in the car or just when you’re chilling.

It’s hard not to like and that is reflected in the diverse range of artists that have covered it. It has been turned into a dance music classic and a rock song.

9/10

10th January 1981 for four weeks

I believe that back in the day, there was no chart published the week after Christmas. Therefore the Christmas week chart was simply duplicated the following week. That’s why it took until the week ending 10th January for John Lennon to return to the top spot after his sad murder.

Imagine is generally considered to be one of the finest songs ever written and has sold well over a million copies in the UK.

It’s a song that I’ve loved but one that I’ve become less appreciative of since I realised that it’s clearly promoting hippy ideals. Nonetheless, it is a brilliant song. The moment you hear those chords at the start you simply stop and listen.

“Above us only sky” is a lyric used in the logo for Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

Over the years I’ve heard it thousands of times. I can’t really remember hearing it during my childhood but as an adult it has been high profile, and it’s been covered many times by different artists. I clearly remember Emile Sande singing it at the end of the 2012 London Olympics.

I also remember it was re-released in 1999, at the end of the millennium as it was considered ‘the best song of the millennium’. It reached Number 3.

9/10