1980 in music

Encyclopedia : 1 : 19 : 198 : 1980 in music

See also: 1979 in music, other events of 1980, 1981 in music, 1980s in music and the list of 'years in music'

Contents

Events

January

January 1 - Cliff Richard is appointed an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II. The only other pop music acts to be created MBEs are the Beatles and Elton John
January 2 - At the age of 45, songwriter Larry Williams is found dead in his Los Angeles, California home of a gunshot wound to the head. Investigators are never able to determine whether his death was a murder or suicide.
January 13 - The Beach Boys, Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Starship perform at a benefit concert at Oakland Coliseum for the people of Kampuchea.
January 16 - Paul McCartney is arrested in Tokyo for possession of a half pound of marijuana. The remaining part of McCartney's tour had to be canceled.
January 25 - Paul McCartney is released from a Tokyo jail and is kicked out of the country by Japanese authorities.
January - Daniel Amos and Randy Stonehill wrap up the first part of the Amos and Randy Tour in Toronto. Both artists are joined on stage by Larry Norman for an encore. The event makes the news on local television and newspapers.

February

February 8 - David Bowie and his wife of nearly 10 years, Angie, file for divorce. Bowie gets custody of their 9 year old son, Zowie
February 14 - Lou Reed marries Sylvia Morales in New York City's Greenwich Village
February 19 - Bon Scott, lead singer of AC/DC, dies in London after choking on his own vomit, the result of an all-night drinking binge.
February 29 - Buddy Holly's trademark eyeglasses and the Big Bopper's wristwatch are "rediscovered" in old police files by the Mason City, Iowa Sheriff. Holly and the Big Bopper were killed in a plane crash on February 3, 1959 along with singer Ritchie Valens.

March

March 1 - Patti Smith marries former MC5 member Fred Sonic Smith
March 3 - Sotheby's Auction house in London auctions off a Rivera Hotel, Las Vegas napkin signed by Elvis Presley for 500 pounds. Other items auctioned included four American dollar bills autographed by the Beatles, for 220 pounds and a collection of personal letters belonging to the Rolling Stones, also for 220 pounds
March 14 - Record producer Quincy Jones receives a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame
March 19 - Elvis Presley's autopsy is subpoened during the trial of Dr. George Nichopoulous, who would later be found guilty of overprescribing drugs to Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and other clients.
March 29 - Ronald Selle, wins a lawsuit filed against the Bee Gees, Paramount Pictures and Polygram Records. Selle alleged that the Bee Gees' song "How Deep is Your Love" plagiarized two sections of a song he wrote called "Let it End." The Bee Gees claim they never heard Selle's song. (The Bee Gees successfully appeal the decision in 1983.)

April-December

April 13 - The Broadway musical Grease closes its run of 3,388 performances, making it the longest running show on Broadway up until that time.
April 14 - A member of the New Jersey State assembly introduces a resolution to make Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" the official state song.
April 17 - As the "official guests of State", Bob Marley and the Wailers perform at Zimbabwe's Independence festival. Marley calls the event the "greatest honor of my life."
April 30 - The Roger Daltrey film, McVicar, opens in London.
May 18 - Ian Curtis, vocalist of pioneering post-punk group Joy Division, hangs himself in his Macclesfield home. His death comes just days before Joy Division are scheduled to begin their first U.S. tour.
September 25 - Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham found dead at age 32. The night previous Bonham had spent on a drinking binge leading to his passing out at Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page's country estate in Windsor, Berkshire. Sometime during the night, Bonham choked on his own vomit and died. He was found dead the next morning by Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. Led Zeppelin officially broke up in December of that year as a result, never to reunite. They are second only to The Beatles in terms of albums sold.
November 21 - The Eagles' Don Henley is arrested when cocaine, Quaaludes, and marijuana were found in his hotel room after a nude 16 year old prostitute had drug-related seizures. Henley is also subsequently charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
December - Duran Duran signs with EMI after finalizing its lineup and touring as a support act for Hazel O'Connor
December 8 - John Lennon is shot dead outside of his apartment building in New York City.

unknown dates

The single "Groovy Ghost Show" by Casper is the first recorded hip hop music from Chicago, Illinois
Hee Bee Gee Bees release cutting parody of Bee Gees' disco-style single. Though not a hit in the UK, it is a huge success elsewhere, particularly in Australia, and helps to encourage the Gibb brothers to diversify stylistically
Network Riddum Band's Breaking Out is the first occurrence of the term rapso as the musical genre continues its popularization
Seals & Crofts break up
Bachman-Turner Overdrive break up (they reform periodically over the years)
The Eagles break up (they reform in 1994)
Starland Vocal Band break up
The Germs break up
George Clinton dissolves Parliament
Paul McCartney dissolves Wings
Horslips break up
Average White Band disbands
Gentle Giant break up
The Buggles break up
Boys Next Door disband and become The Birthday Party
Wire disband (they reform in 1985)
Mercyful Fate forms
Minor Threat forms
The Sisters of Mercy forms
Phil Collins signs a contract with Atlantic Records to distribute his solo records in the US and in Europe outside the UK (on WEA label)
Hüsker Dü forms, and signs a contract with SST Records

Albums released

Chronological Table of US and UK Number One Hit Singles

US Number One Singles and Artist (Weeks at Number One)	UK Number One Singles and Artist (Weeks at Number One)
"Please Don't Go" - KC & The Sunshine Band (1) "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" - Rupert Holmes (2 weeks in 1979 + 1 week in 1980) "Rock With You" - Michael Jackson (4) "Do That To Me One More Time" - The Captain & Tennille (1) "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" - Queen (4) "Another Brick In The Wall, Part II" - Pink Floyd (4) "Call Me" - Blondie (6), best selling single of the year "Funkytown" - Lipps Inc (4) "Coming Up (Live At Glasgow)" - Paul McCartney (3) "It's Still Rock And Roll To Me" - Billy Joel (2) "Magic" - Olivia Newton-John (4) "Sailing" - Christopher Cross (1) "Upside Down" - Diana Ross (4) "Another One Bites The Dust" - Queen (3) "Woman In Love" - Barbra Streisand (3) "Lady" - Kenny Rogers (6) "(Just Like) Starting Over" - John Lennon (1 week in 1980 + 2 weeks in 1981)	"Another Brick In The Wall Part II" - Pink Floyd (3 weeks in 1979 + 2 weeks in 1980) "Brass In Pocket" - Pretenders (2) "The Special AKA Live EP - Too Much Too Young" - Specials featuring Rico (2) "Coward Of The County" - Kenny Rogers (2) "Atomic" - Blondie (2) "Together We Are Beautiful" - Fern Kinney (1) "Going Underground/The Dreams Of Children" - The Jam (3) "Working My Way Back To You - Forgive Me Girl" - Detroit Spinners (2) "Call Me" - Blondie (1) "Geno" - Dexy's Midnight Runners (2) "What's Another Year" - Johnny Logan (2) "Suicide Is Painless (Theme From MASH)" - MASH (3) "Crying" - Don McLean (3) "Xanadu" - Olivia Newton-John & Electric Light Orchestra (2) "Use It Up And Wear It Out" - Odyssey (2) "The Winner Takes It All" - ABBA (2) "Ashes To Ashes" - David Bowie (2) "Start" - The Jam (1) "Feels Like I'm In Love" - Kelly Marie (2) "Don't Stand So Close To Me"- The Police (4), best selling single of the year "Woman In Love" - Barbra Streisand (3) "The Tide Is High" - Blondie (2) "Super Trouper" - ABBA (3) "(Just Like) Starting Over" - John Lennon (1) "There's No One Quite Like Grandma" - St Winifred's School Choir (1 week in 1980 + 1 week in 1981)

US Number One Singles and Artist
(Weeks at Number One)

UK Number One Singles and Artist
(Weeks at Number One)

"Please Don't Go" - KC & The Sunshine Band (1)
"Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" - Rupert Holmes (2 weeks in 1979 + 1 week in 1980)
"Rock With You" - Michael Jackson (4)
"Do That To Me One More Time" - The Captain & Tennille (1)
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" - Queen (4)
"Another Brick In The Wall, Part II" - Pink Floyd (4)
"Call Me" - Blondie (6), best selling single of the year
"Funkytown" - Lipps Inc (4)
"Coming Up (Live At Glasgow)" - Paul McCartney (3)
"It's Still Rock And Roll To Me" - Billy Joel (2)
"Magic" - Olivia Newton-John (4)
"Sailing" - Christopher Cross (1)
"Upside Down" - Diana Ross (4)
"Another One Bites The Dust" - Queen (3)
"Woman In Love" - Barbra Streisand (3)
"Lady" - Kenny Rogers (6)
"(Just Like) Starting Over" - John Lennon (1 week in 1980 + 2 weeks in 1981)

"Another Brick In The Wall Part II" - Pink Floyd (3 weeks in 1979 + 2 weeks in 1980)
"Brass In Pocket" - Pretenders (2)
"The Special AKA Live EP - Too Much Too Young" - Specials featuring Rico (2)
"Coward Of The County" - Kenny Rogers (2)
"Atomic" - Blondie (2)
"Together We Are Beautiful" - Fern Kinney (1)
"Going Underground/The Dreams Of Children" - The Jam (3)
"Working My Way Back To You - Forgive Me Girl" - Detroit Spinners (2)
"Call Me" - Blondie (1)
"Geno" - Dexy's Midnight Runners (2)
"What's Another Year" - Johnny Logan (2)
"Suicide Is Painless (Theme From M*A*S*H)" - M*A*S*H (3)
"Crying" - Don McLean (3)
"Xanadu" - Olivia Newton-John & Electric Light Orchestra (2)
"Use It Up And Wear It Out" - Odyssey (2)
"The Winner Takes It All" - ABBA (2)
"Ashes To Ashes" - David Bowie (2)
"Start" - The Jam (1)
"Feels Like I'm In Love" - Kelly Marie (2)
"Don't Stand So Close To Me"- The Police (4), best selling single of the year
"Woman In Love" - Barbra Streisand (3)
"The Tide Is High" - Blondie (2)
"Super Trouper" - ABBA (3)
"(Just Like) Starting Over" - John Lennon (1)
"There's No One Quite Like Grandma" - St Winifred's School Choir (1 week in 1980 + 1 week in 1981)

Other significant singles

"Ace of Spades" - Motörhead
"All Night Long" - Rainbow
"All The Way From America" - Joan Armatrading
"Another Nail In My Heart" - Squeeze
"Another One Bites The Dust" - Queen
"Ant Music" - Adam & the Ants
"Ashes To Ashes" - David Bowie
"Atomic" - Blondie
"Babooshka" - Kate Bush
"Baggy Trousers" - Madness
"Bankrobber" - The Clash
"Boxed Set Singles 1963-1969" - Rolling Stones
"By The Auther Of Psycho" - The Couch (proto-Drum and bass)
"Call Me" - Blondie
"Can't Help Myself" - Flowers
"Celebration" - Kool and the Gang
"Cheap Wine" - Cold Chisel
"Chinatown" - Thin Lizzy
"Coming Up" - Paul McCartney
"Could You Be Loved" - Bob Marley and the Wailers
"Coward Of The County" - Kenny Rogers
"Crazy Train" - Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard of Oz
"Cupid/I've Loved You for a Long Time" - The Spinners (soul music)
"Dance Stance" - Dexy's Midnight Runners
"Dancing With Myself" - Gen X
"Do You Dream In Colour?" - Bill Nelson
"Do You Remember Rock And Roll Radio?" - Ramones
"Don't Do Me Like That" - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
"Don't Stand So Close To Me" - The Police
"Dream About Fun" - Mark White
"Echo Beach" - Martha and the Muffins
"Eighth Day" - Hazel O'Connor
"Embarrassment" - Madness
"Enola Gay" - OMD
"Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime" - The Korgis
"Fade To Grey" - Visage
"Fantastic Voyage" - Lakeside
"Fashion" - David Bowie
"Fool For Your Loving" - Whitesnake
"Games Without Frontiers" - Peter Gabriel
"Geno" - Dexy's Midnight Runners
"Going Underground/The Dreams Of Children" - The Jam
"Heartbreaker" - Pat Benatar
"Hey Nineteen" - Steely Dan
"Hit Me With Your Best Shot" - Pat Benatar
"Hungry Heart" - Bruce Springsteen
"I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down" - Elvis Costello
"I Got You" - Split Enz
"I Never Knew Love Like This Before" - Stephanie Mills
"I Wanna Be Sedated" - The Ramones
"I Want To Be Straight" - Ian Dury and the Blockheads
"Ita" - Cold Chisel
"It's Different For Girls" - Joe Jackson
"It's Still Rock And Roll To Me" - Billy Joel
"(Just Like)Starting Over" - John Lennon
"Kill The Poor" - Dead Kennedys
"Killer On The Loose" - Thin Lizzy
"Let My Love Open The Door" - Pete Townshend
"Let's Go Round Again" - Average White Band
"Lip Up Fatty" - Bad Manners
"Living After Midnight" - Judas Priest
"Love At First Night" - Kim Hart
"Love Will Tear Us Apart" - Joy Division
"Masterblaster (Jammin')" - Stevie Wonder
"Meltdown With The Ramones(EP)" - The Ramones
"Mirror In The Bathroom" - The Beat
"Misunderstanding" - Genesis
"My Baby" - Cold Chisel
"My Girl" - Madness
"My Perfect Cousin" - The Undertones
"New Amsterdam" - Elvis Costello
"No One Driving" - John Foxx
"No Self Control" - Peter Gabriel
"Oh Yeah (On The Radio)" - Roxy Music
"Poison Ivy" - The Lambrettas
"Police And Thieves" - Junior Murvin
"Private Life" - Grace Jones
"Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)" - Squeeze
"Redemption Song" - Bob Marley and the Wailers
"Refugee" - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
"Rescue" - Echo and the Bunnymen
"Ride Like The Wind" - Christopher Cross
"Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" - AC/DC
"Running With The Devil" - Van Halen
"Save Me" - Queen
"Simon Templar/Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps" - Splodgenessabounds
"Singing In The 80's" - The Monitors
"Six Pack (EP)" - The Police
"So Lonely" - The Police
"The Special AKA Live EP" - The Specials featuring Rico
"Special Brew" - Bad Manners
"Spirit Of Radio" - Rush
"Staring At The Rude Boys" - The Ruts
"Start" - The Jam
"State Of The Heart" - Mondo Rock
"Stomp" - Brothers Johnson
"Stop The Cavalry" - Jona Lewie
"Strangers On A Train" - The Sports
"Super Trouper" - Abba
"Talk of the Town" - The Pretenders
"Three Little Birds" - Bob Marley and the Wailers
"The Tide Is High" - Blondie
"To Cut A Long Story Short" - Spandau Ballet
"Touch Too Much (Live)" - AC/DC
"Turn It On Again" - Genesis
"Turning Japanese" - The Vapors
"We Are Glass" - Gary Numan
"Whole Lotta Rosie (Live)" - AC/DC
"Xanadu" - Olivia Newton-John and Electric Light Orchestra
"You May Be Right" - Billy Joel
"You Shook Me All Night Long" - AC/DC
"You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties" - Jona Lewie

Published popular music

"Fame" w. Dean Pitchford m. Michael Gore
"The Winner Takes It All" w.m. Benny Andersson & Bjorn Ulvaeus

George Crumb - A Little Suite for Christmas, A.D. 1979 for piano
Mario Davidovsky - Consorts for symphonic band
Mario Davidovsky - String Quartet No. 4
Trygve Madsen - Sonata for Tuba and Piano
Krzysztof Penderecki - Symphony No. 2 - "Christmas"

Philip Glass - Satyagraha
Kirke Mechem - Tartuffe
William Mathias - The Servants (libretto by Iris Murdoch)
David Warrack - Drummer

Barnum     Broadway production opened at the St. James Theatre on April 30 and ran for 854 performances
Brigadoon (Lerner & Loewe) - Broadway revival
Bring Back Birdie     Broadway production
Camelot (Lerner & Loewe) - Broadway revival
A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine     Broadway production
Forty-Second Street     Broadway production
The Life and Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby   London production opened at the Aldwych Theatre on June 5
On The Twentieth Century     London production
Sweeney Todd (Stephen Sondheim) - London production opened at the Drury Lane Theatre on July 2
The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg London production opened at the Phoenix Theatre on April 10
West Side Story (Leonard Bernstein) - Broadway revival

Fame
Popeye
Xanadu

Births

January 25 - Alicia Keys, popular R&B/soul vocalist and pianist
January 28 - Nick Carter, The Backstreet Boys
February 27 - Cyrus Bolooki, New Found Glory
March 21 - Deryck Whibley, Sum 41
June 20 - Tony Lovato, Mest
July 10 - Jessica Simpson
July 26 - Dave Baksh, Sum 41
October 5 - , Good Charlotte
November 3 -
November 17 - Clarke Isaac Hanson, Hanson
December 10 - Sarah Chang, violinist
Chris Gaynor, The All-American Rejects
December 18 - Christina Aguilera

Deaths

January 2 - Larry Williams
January 6 - Poley McClintock, jazz musician
January 7 - Carl White, the Rivingtons
January 29 - Jimmy Durante US pianist & entertainer
January 30 - Professor Longhair US pianist
February 19 - Bon Scott, lead singer of AC/DC, choked to death after a heavy drinking binge
March 26 - Jon Paulus (32), the Buckinghams, drug overdose
March 26 - Ted Shapiro, US songwriter & pianist
March 28 - Dick Haymes, (63), Argentinian-born US singer and actor
March 30 - Annunzio Mantovani, Italian-born British orchestra leader and composer
April 28 - Tommy Caldwell, Marshall Tucker Band, car accident
May 18 - Ian Curtis, lead singer of Joy Division, suicide by hanging
June 16 - Bob Nolan, country singer and songwriter
June 20 - Allan Pettersson, Swedish composer
June 21 - Bert Kaempfert, German composer, bandleader and arranger
June 27 - Barney Bigard, US jazz clarinetist
June 28 - Jose Iturbi, pianist
July 15 - Ben Selvin, The Dean of Recorded Music
July 23 - Keith Godchaux, Grateful Dead, car accident
August 17 - Harold Adamson, US lyricist
September 12 - Lillian Randolph, actress and singer
September 25 - John Bonham, Led Zeppelin
December 7 - Darby Crash Lead singer of punk rock band, The Germs
December 8 - John Lennon

Awards

Grammy Awards of 1980

Eurovision Song Contest 1980

Charts

Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1980

KROQ Top 106.7 Countdown of 1980

External Charts

[Pop Culture Madness 1980 Pop Music Chart]

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