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A list of notable events in music that took place in 1981, by location, genre, topic and month. Includes albums, singles, awards, concerts, scandals and more from various artists and genres.
- Wanted Dread And Alive
Wanted Dread & Alive is the fifth studio album by the...
- 1981 in Heavy Metal Music
AC/DC – For Those About to Rock We Salute You; Accept –...
- Wanted Dread And Alive
Billboard. Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1981. "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes was the number one song of 1981. Three songs by John Lennon appear on the Year-End Hot 100, charting posthumously after his murder in late 1980. This is a list of Billboard magazine's Top Hot 100 songs of 1981.
No.TitleArtist (s)12Diana Ross & Lionel Richie34- Abba – The visitors
- AC/DC – For Those About to Rock
- Adam and The Ants – Prince Charming
- Black Sabbath – Mob Rules
- Black Uhuru – Red
- Bobby Womack – The Poet
- Brian Eno and David Byrne – My Life in The Bush of Ghosts
- The Cure – Faith
- Daryl Hall & John Oates – Private Eyes
- Def Leppard – High ‘N’ Dry
ABBA, the Swedish pop quartet best known for their upbeat and lively 70s hits, set a starker tonefor the moody, synthesizer-driven bands that would flourish in the 80s.
Continuing on from the momentum of Back in Black, For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)refined the Australian hard rock’s band formula and gave them their first No. 1 album in America.
Music videos for the title track and “Stand and Deliver,” both UK number one hits, made the flamboyantly costumed Adam Ant an early MTV pinup star, and this one of the best albums from 1981.
The Black Sabbathlineup helmed by Ronnie James Dio on vocals (rather than Ozzy Osbourne) broke boundaries in experimenting with bass, was certified gold in America, and achieved even greater chart success in the UK.
Produced by Sly & Robbie, who also played on Grace Jones’ pivotal 1981 album Nightclubbing, the dynamic and ever-changing Jamaican group’s sixth album showcases the tight songwriting of singer Michael Rose and founder Derrick “Duckie” Simpson and lays down a rock and dub-influenced reggae template that so many others have followed.
One of the best albums from 1981, this sensual record signaled a peak in Bobby Womack’s solo career, The Poetfeatures the much-sampled and interpolated single “If You Think You’re Lonely Now” and spawned a sequel album three years later.
Ambient music’s founding father Brian Enoand David Byrne, the frontman of Talking Heads came together to release a groundbreaking collection of sample-based psychedelic music that incorporates snippets from Lebanese singers, televangelists, talk show hosts, and chanting Muslims into the mix.
Though it was a top 20 hit in The Cure’s native UK, the Robert Smith-fronted band’s third album, Faithhas become more widely regarded as influential on goth music and beyond in the decades since its release.
Platinum-certified MTV favorite Private Eyesis the tenth album from Hall & Oates and showcases two of their highly sampled No. 1 hits: “Private Eyes” and the R&B crossover smash “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do).”
Produced by Mutt Lange, Def Leppard’s second album generated a top 40 rock single in “Let It Go” and was the pre-cursor to their massive breakthrough, Pyromania.
- 4 min
Embark on a musical journey through the chart-topping hits of 1981, exploring the standout songs that defined the year. From iconic anthems to timeless classics, the top songs of 1981 offer a captivating glimpse into the vibrant music scene of the era.
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Rodney Cuffee. This is a list of Billboard magazine's Top Hot 100 songs of 1981. The Top 100 as revealed in the year-end edition of Billboard dated December 26, 1981, is based on Hot 100 charts ...
