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 would not leave the band Genesis until 1995. 14 February – Billy Idol leaves Generation X to begin a solo career. 26 February – The Symphony No. 2 by Peter Maxwell Davies commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in celebration of its centenary, receives its world premiere at Symphony Hall, Boston, with Seiji Ozawa conducting. 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 the future. 25 April – Paul McCartney's band, Wings, officially breaks up. 2 May – Working as a local wedding singer 12 months previously, Scottish vocalist Sheena Easton hits number one 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. 17 June – Pink Floyd perform their last full concert with Roger Waters, as part of The Wall Tour, at Earls Court in London. Waters would not perform with the band again until a one-off performance for Live 8 in 2005. 13 July – The first performance of George Lloyd‘s Symphony No 4, written in 1945-6 after the composer’s harrowing wartime experiences in the Arctic convoys, at the Cheltenham Festival. 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. 23 September – The first performance of Christian Darnton‘s Twenty Minute Symphony (his fourth), composed in 1978 with the subtitle Diabolus in musica (it is based on the tritone), performed by the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra under Edward Downes.
Charts
Number-one singles Issue DateSongArtist(s)Sales 3 January"There's No One Quite Like Grandma" St Winifred's School Choir 103,000 10 January"Imagine" John Lennon 107,900 17 January 142,000 24 January 108,000 31 January 82,000 7 February"Woman" 113,000 14 February 106,000 21 February "Shaddap You Face"Joe Dolce Music Theatre 126,000 28 February 174,000 7 March 118,000 14 March"Jealous Guy"Roxy Music 112,000 21 March 97,000 28 March"This Ole House" Shakin' Stevens 101,000 4 April 117,000 11 April 101,000 18 April"Making Your Mind Up"Bucks Fizz 134,000 25 April 118,000 2 May 86,000 9 May"Stand and Deliver"Adam and the Ants 102,000 16 May 196,000 23 May 134,000 30 May 103,000 6 June 82,000 13 June"Being with You"Smokey Robinson 95,000 20 June 117,000 27 June"One Day in Your Life"Michael Jackson 102,000 4 July 115,000 11 July"Ghost Town"The Specials 77,000 18 July 100,000 25 July 87,000 1 August"Green Door"Shakin' Stevens 77,000 8 August 78,000 15 August 87,000 22 August 76,000 29 August"Japanese Boy" Aneka 78,000 5 September"Tainted Love"Soft Cell 135,000 12 September 170,000 19 September"Prince Charming"Adam and the Ants 146,000 26 September 134,000 3 October 116,000 10 October 106,000 17 October "It's My Party"Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin 84,000 24 October 112,000 31 October 93,000 7 November 73,000 14 November"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" The Police 76,000 21 November"Under Pressure" Queen and David Bowie 85,000 28 November 102,000 5 December"Begin the Beguine" Julio Iglesias 83,000 12 December"Don't You Want Me"The Human League 99,000 19 December 121,000 26 December 142,650
Number-one albums Issue DateTitleArtist(s) 3 JanuarySuper TrouperABBA 10 January 17 January 24 JanuaryKings of the Wild FrontierAdam and the Ants 31 January 7 FebruaryDouble FantasyJohn Lennon and Yoko Ono 14 February 21 February Face ValuePhil Collins 28 February 7 March 14 MarchKings of the Wild FrontierAdam and the Ants 21 March 28 March 4 April 11 April 18 April 25 April 2 May 9 May 16 May 23 MayStars on 45Starsound 30 May 6 June 13 June 20 June 27 JuneNo Sleep 'til HammersmithMotörhead 4 JulyDisco Daze and Disco NitesVarious Artists 11 JulyLove SongsCliff Richard 18 July 25 July 1 August 8 August 15 AugustThe Official BBC Album of the Royal WeddingVarious Artists 22 August 29 AugustTime Electric Light Orchestra 5 September 12 SeptemberDead RingerMeat Loaf 19 September 26 SeptemberAbacabGenesis 3 October 10 OctoberGhost in the MachineThe Police 17 October 24 October 31 OctoberDare The Human League 7 NovemberShaky Shakin' Stevens 14 NovemberGreatest Hits Queen 21 November 28 November 5 December 12 DecemberChart Hits '81Various Artists 19 DecemberThe VisitorsABBA 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 At the end of 1981, the official year-end charts provided by the UK's chart provider, the British Market Research Bureau, stated that the best-selling single of the year was "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell. However, in March 2021, the Official Charts Company announced that new research had shown that "Don't You Want Me" by the Human League, previously thought to be the year's 21st-biggest seller, was in fact the biggest-selling single of 1981 with over one million sales, and the year-end charts were adjusted accordingly.
Title Artist Peakposition 1 "Don't You Want Me" 1 2 "Tainted Love" Soft Cell 1 3 "Stand and Deliver" Adam and the Ants 1 4 "Prince Charming" 1 5 "This Ole House" 1 6 "Vienna" Ultravox 2 7 "One Day in Your Life" 1 8 "Making Your Mind Up" Bucks Fizz 1 9 "Shaddup You Face" Music Theatre 1 10 "The Birdie Song (Birdie Dance)" 2 11 "You Drive Me Crazy" 2 12 "Ghost Town" 1 13 "It's My Party" with Barbara Gaskin 1 14 "Being with You" 1 15 "Happy Birthday" Altered Images 2 16 "Hands Up (Give Me Your Heart)" Ottawan 3 17 "Woman" 1 18 "Stars on 45" Starsound 2 19 "Begin the Beguine (Volver a Empezar)" 1 20 "Green Door" 1 21 "Imagine" 1 22 "Jealous Guy" Roxy Music 1 23 "Kids in America" 2 24 "Japanese Boy" Aneka 1 25 "Daddy's Home" 2 26 "Chi Mai" 2 27 "Hooked on Classics" Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, arranged and conducted by Louis Clark 2 28 "Souvenir" Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark 3 29 "Can Can" Bad Manners 3 30 "Antmusic" Adam and the Ants 2 31 "(Do) The Hucklebuck" Coast to Coast 5 32 "Hold On Tight" ELO 4 33 "More Than in Love" and Beyond 2 34 "Love Action (I Believe in Love)" 3 35 "Body Talk" Imagination 4 36 "Stars on 45 (Volume 2)" Starsound 2 37 "Lately" 3 38 "In the Air Tonight" 2 39 "Under Pressure" Queen and David Bowie 1 40 "Going Back to My Roots" Odyssey 4 41 "Under Your Thumb" Godley and Creme 3 42 "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" 1 43 "Happy Birthday" 2 44 "Kings of the Wild Frontier" Adam and the Ants 2 45 "I Surrender" Rainbow 3 46 "Pretend" 4 47 "How 'Bout Us" Champaign 5 48 "Endless Love" and Lionel Richie 7 49 Four from Toyah (EP) Toyah 4 50 "Let's Groove" Earth, Wind & Fire 3
Best-selling albums Scaping (1982). "The Top 200 LPs: January–December 1981". pp. 50–53.Jones; Lazell; Rees (1982). "The Top 200 Albums (UK)". pp. 78–81. Title Artist Peakposition 1 Kings of the Wild Frontier Adam and the Ants 1 2 Greatest Hits Queen 1 3 Dare 1 4 Face Value 1 5 Shaky 1 6 Ghost in the Machine 1 7 Love Songs 1 8 Chart Hits '81 Various Artists 1 9 Prince Charming Adam and the Ants 2 10 Double Fantasy and Yoko Ono 1 11 The Jazz Singer 3 12 Making Movies Dire Straits 4 13 Stars on 45 Starsound 1 14 Hotter than July 3 15 Vienna Ultravox 3 16 Secret Combination 2 17 The Visitors ABBA 1 18 The Best of Blondie Blondie 4 19 Bat Out of Hell Meat Loaf 9 20 Manilow Magic: The Best of Barry Manilow 4 21 Time Electric Light Orchestra 1 22 Pearls 5 23 Dead Ringer Meat Loaf 1 24 Anthem Toyah 2 25 Hooked on Classics Royal Philharmonic Orchestra 4 26 Guilty 3 27 Duran Duran Duran Duran 3 28 Present Arms UB40 2 29 Super Hits 1 & 2 Various Artists 2 30 This Ole House 2 31 Wired for Sound 4 32 Abacab Genesis 1 33 Disco Daze/Disco Nites Various Artists 1 34 Architecture and Morality Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark 3 35 Tattoo You 2 36 The Simon and Garfunkel Collection: 17 of Their All-Time Greatest Recordings Simon & Garfunkel 4 37 Hi Infidelity REO Speedwagon 6 38 If I Should Love Again 5 39 The Best of Bowie 3 40 Super Trouper ABBA 1 41 No Sleep 'til Hammersmith Motörhead 1 42 The Official BBC Album of the Royal Wedding Various Artists 1 43 Christopher Cross 1 44 7 Madness 5 45 The River 2 46 Tonight I'm Yours 8 47 Greatest Hits Dr. Hook 2 48 Difficult to Cure Rainbow 3 49 Barry 5 50 Signing Off UB40 2
Notes:
Classical music: new works David Bedford Elegy and Caprice for oboe and piano Ocean Star, a Dreaming Song, for youth orchestra Prelude for a Maritime Nation Sonata for piano, in one movement String Quartet Symphony for 12 musicians Vocoder Sextet Wind Sextet Richard Rodney Bennett Impromptu on the Name of Haydn for piano Isadore, ballet Music for String Quartet Noctuary, ballet for piano Six Tunes for the Instruction of Singing-birds, flute solo Sonatina for clarinet solo Vocalise, for soprano and piano Lennox Berkeley – Bagatelles for two pianos Michael Berkeley Flames for orchestra String Quartet No. 1 String Quartet No. 2 Wessex Graves for voice and harp Harrison Birtwistle – Pulse Sampler for oboe and claves Edward Cowie – Kelly Choruses for voices and harp Gordon Crosse Dreascanon 1 for choir, piano and percussion Elegy and Scherzo Alla Marcia for string orchestra Fear No More, for oboe, oboe d'amore and cor anglais Peace for Brass Wildboy, ballet score Peter Maxwell Davies The Bairnes of Brugh for chamber ensemble Brass Quintet Hill Runes for guitar Little Quartet No. 2 for string quartet Lullabye for Lucy for mixed chorus The Medium, monodrama for mezzo soprano Piano Sonata The Rainbow, music theatre for children Seven Songs Home for children's voices Brian Ferneyhough Lemma – Icon – Epigram for piano Superscripto for solo piccolo Michael Finnissy An-dimironnai for solo cello Duru-duru for soprano, flute, percussion and piano Jisei for ensemble Kelir for six voices Keroiylu for oboe, bassoon and piano Piano Concert No 7 Reels for piano Rushes for piano Stomp for accordion Terekkeme for solo cembalo Tree Setting for piano White Rain for piano or clavichord Yalli for solo cello Alexander Goehr Behold the Sun for soprano, vibraphone and chamber ensemble Deux Etudes for orchestra Iain Hamilton The Morning Watch for mixed chorus and ten wind instruments La Ricordanza for tenor and orchestra Symphony No. 3.Spring Symphony No. 4 Robin Holloway Brand, dramatic ballet for soli, chorus, organ and orchestra Clarissa Symphony for soprano, tenor and orchestra The Lover's Well for bass-baritone and piano Sonata for Violin Solo Wilfred Josephs Blessings for chorus and organ Eight Aphorisms for trombone octet Overture The Brontes Quartet Prelude in honour of Joseph Haydn Spring Songs for chorus String Quartet No. 4 Testimony for toccata and organ Kenneth Leighton Household Pets for piano These Are Thy Wonders for high voice and organ George Lloyd – Symphony No 10, November Journeys (for brass) John McCabe Afternoons and Afterwards for piano Desert 1: Lizard for woodwind and percussion Desert II: Horizon for ten brass instruments Music's Empire for soli, chorus and orchestra Elizabeth Maconchy Little Symphony Piccola Musica for violin, viola and cello Trittico for two oboes, bassoon and harpsichord William Mathias – Rex Gloriae for unaccompanied voices