One of the things I remember the most about 1980 was the Olympics, boycotted by the United States and its allies. It happened as a result of the Soviet Union’s incursion into Afghanistan the year before. So the world learned yet again how difficult invading Afghanistan really was.
Here are the songs from 1980 that hit #1 on the Billboard pop charts. Another One… plus songs by MJ, Lipps, and Babs all went platinum. The others, except for the last two on the list, all went gold.
Lady – Kenny Rogers. #1 for six weeks. #42 RB, #1 CW.
Call Me – Blondie. #1 for six weeks.
(Just Like) Starting Over – John Lennon. #1 for five weeks. After he died in December of that year, I found the sudden irony of this song very difficult to deal with. Still do, actually.
Upside Down– Diana Ross. #1 for four weeks pop and RB.
Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)– Pink Floyd. #1 for four weeks. When I was at FantaCo, I recall co-worker Mark and I came up with new, and bawdy, lyrics
Crazy Little Thing Called Love– Queen. #1 for four weeks.
Rock with You – Michael Jackson. #1 for four weeks. #1 for six weeks RB. From his best solo album.
Magic – Olivia Newton-John. #1 for four weeks. I’ve always loved the first two chords of this song.
Gotta move on
Funkytown– Lipps, Inc. #1 for four weeks. #2 for five weeks RB. It was kept out of the #1 RB slot by Let’s Get Serious – Jermaine Jackson (#9 pop), one of my favorite Stevie Wonder songs.
Another One Bites the Dust– Queen. #1 for three weeks. #2 for three weeks RB. Incidentally, it was kept out of the #1 RB slot by Funkin’ for Jamaica – Tom Browne, a song that didn’t rank on the Hot 100 pop chart!
Woman in Love -Barbra Streisand. #1 for three weeks. I picked this video because the compiler didn’t misspell her name.
Coming Up (Live at Glasgow) – Paul McCartney. #1 for three weeks. This helped inspire John Lennon to start recording again.
It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me – Billy Joel. #1 for two weeks. I recently read an article recently about how a lot of songs that namecheck “rock and roll” don’t really rock. This was example #1.
Do That To Me One More Time – The Captain and Tenille. #58 RB.
Please Don’t Go – K. C. and the Sunshine Band. I have no recollection of this song.
Sailing – Christopher Cross. He was going to be the “next big thing.”