Popjustice disagrees with me about 1982

I'm keepin' at it: this is the fourth "100 Best Album's of the '80s" list I've looked at in my quest to find someone who will agree with me that 1982 is the best year ever for pop music.  First, I looked at Rolling Stone magazine's list, then the lists at Best Ever Albums and Dave's Music Database.   Today, I'm examining data provided from Popjustice.com.  What makes this list different from the previous three is that it is based solely on sales, in the UK, during the '80s.  So this isn't Popjustice making the call, they are just providing me with information.  Who really disagrees with me about 1982  are the hard working citizens of the UK who voted with their hard-earned money.  1982 fares better than it has been of late, but still no top spot. That top spot belongs to 1987, who won in a landslide. Using the same formula (album #1 received 100 points, album #2 received 99 points, and so on through #100 receiving 1 point, 5050 total points available), here are the results:

		1987 Number of albums: 16 Points: 969
		1984 Number of albums: 11 Points: 680
		1983 Number of albums: 12 Points: 670
		1982 Number of albums: 9 Points: 514
		1988 Number of albums: 11 Points: 509
		1986 Number of albums: 9 Points: 427
		1989 Number of albums: 10 Points: 405
		1985 Number of albums: 8 Points: 371
		1980 Number of albums: 6 Points: 263
		1981 Number of albums: 4 Points: 263

Since the list was based on sales, there are also albums on this list from 1977 (Rumours by Fleetwood Mac), 1978 (Bat Out Of Hell by Meatloaf), and 1979 (Off The Wall by Michael Jackson and a Barry Manilow greatest hits package).

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The 9 top sellers on the list which were released in 1982 are:

3	Thriller	Michael Jackson
22	Love Songs	Barbra Streisand
26	Love Over Gold	Dire Straits
35	Complete Madness	Madness
36	Rio	Duran Duran
42	The Kids from "Fame"	The Kids from "Fame"
63	The Lexicon of Love	ABC
81	The John Lennon Collection	John Lennon
87	Hello, I Must Be Going	Phil Collins

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I'm happy to see Rio and Lexicon Of Love on the list. I confess to liking The Kids From "Fame" particularly the song Desdemona. My status as a "music addict" is now in question because I hadn't ever heard of the following artists that were on this list (can I use the fact that I lived in rural Texas in the '80s as an excuse?):

• Jason Donovan
• Wet, Wet, Wet
• Five Star
• Alexander O'Neal
• The Christians
• Elaine Page
• Elkie Brooks

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RS	BEA	DMDB	PM
1980	1984	1986	1987
1984	1987	1989	1984
1982	1989	1987	1983
1987	1986	1984	1982
1983	1980	1985	1988
1986	1988	1983	1986
1988	1983	1980	1989
1985	1982	1988	1985
1981	1985	1982	1980
1989	1981	1981	1981

RS = Rolling Stone, BEA = Best Ever Albums, DMDB = Dave's Music Database, PM = Popmatters

There's really not much consistency here other than the fact that 1981 is always at or near the bottom.

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