Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Counting down my Top 81 of '81: Singles #40 - 1

A breakdown of my top singles from 1981





Title
Artist
Pop
AC
Rock*
R&B
Dance
40
"Burnin' for You"
Blue Öyster Cult
40

1


39
"Suddenly"
Olivia Newton-John & Cliff Richard
20
4



38
"All Those Years Ago"
George Harrison
2
1
6


37
"No Reply at All"
Genesis
29

2


36
"Don't Want to Wait Anymore"
The Tubes
35

22


35
"You Better You Bet"
The Who
18

1


34
"A Little in Love"
Cliff Richard
17
6



33
"In the Air Tonight"
Phil Collins
19

2


32
"Arc of a Diver"
Steve Winwood
48

11


31
"Bette Davis Eyes"
Kim Carnes
1
15
5

26



Title
Artist
Pop
AC
Rock
R&B
Dance
30
"I've Done Everything for You"
Rick Springfield
8



29
"Nicole"
Point Blank
39

20


28
"Sweetheart"
Franke & The Knockouts
10
40
27


27
"Love You Like I've Never Loved Before"
John O'Banion
24




26
"Miss Sun"
Boz Scaggs
14
13



25
"Working in the Coal Mine"
Devo
43

53

30
24
"Draw of the Cards"
Kim Carnes
28




23
"Tom Sawyer"
Rush
44

8


22
"You Make My Dreams"
Daryl Hall & John Oates
5

35


21
"Hey Nineteen"
Steely Dan
10
11






Title
Artist
Pop
AC
Rock
R&B
Dance
20
"Can You Feel It"
The Jacksons
77


30
1
19
"One Step Closer"
The Doobie Brothers
24
21



18
"Urgent"
Foreigner
4

1

32
17
"Watching the Wheels"
John Lennon
10
6
25


16
"Gemini Dream"
The Moody Blues
12

13

36
15
"How 'Bout Us"
Champaign
12
1

4

14
"Ah! Leah!"
Donnie Iris
29

19


13
"We're in This Love Together"
Al Jarreau
15
6

6

12
"Start Me Up"
The Rolling Stones
2

1

14
11
"Kiss On My List"
Daryl Hall & John Oates
1
16
54





Title
Artist
Pop
AC
Rock
R&B
Dance
10
"My Girl (Gone, Gone, Gone)"
Chilliwack
22

16


9
"Fashion"
David Bowie
70



21
8
"Time Out of Mind"
Steely Dan
22
13
13


7
"Is It You"
Lee Ritenour
15
15

27

6
"Tempted"
Squeeze
49

8


5
"Our Lips are Sealed"
The Go-Go's
20

15

10
4
"While You See a Chance"
Steve Winwood
7
17
2


3
"Living Inside Myself"
Gino Vannelli
6
5



2
"Just the Two of Us"
Grover Washington, Jr.
2
2

3

1
"Every Little Thing She Does is Magic"
The Police
3

1







All chart positions are peak positions from Billboard charts for 1981. These are my personal top 81 singles of those that peaked on the Billboard charts in 1981. The list is solely my opinion. Using Joel Whitburn's book, Pop Annual 1955-2005, I started with the 408 singles that peaked on Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 chart in 1981. An initial pass through that list narrowed it down to 94 tunes, then listening, ranking, and editing began. The top 81 are presented this week, in order.


*Billboard started producing a Rock chart beginning with their March 21, 1981 edition.




Other lists of singles from My Favorite Decade:

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