Best Selling Albums of the 80s

The number one best selling album of the eighties in the UK was Dire Straits and their classic - Brothers in Arms. This album is a must have album for any eighties music lover featuring the fantastic hits such as Money for Nothing and Walk of Life among others.

Brothers in Arms was the fifth album for Dire Straits and was actually the first album to sell one million copies in the CD format and to also outsell it's LP version......in other words we could blame this album for the demise of vinyl!!!

Brothers in Arms
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Track Listing

1. So Far Away (Album Version) 5:12
2. Money For Nothing (Album Version) 8:26
3. Walk Of Life (Album Version) 4:12
4. Your Latest Trick (Album Version) 6:33
5. Why Worry (Album Version) 8:31
6. Ride Across The River (Album Version) 6:57
7. The Man's Too Strong (Album Version) 4:40
8. One World (Album Version) 3:40
9. Brothers In Arms (Album Version)

Not only was Brothers in Arms the best selling album of the 80s as of April 2008 it was 5th on the list of best-selling albums of all time in the UK.

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Michael Jackson was the 80s King of Pop so it is hardly surprising that he should hold the number 2 and number 3 spot in the best selling albums of the 80s. I was actually surprised that Bad beat Thriller to the number 2 spot as I would've thought that Thriller was HIS album of the 80s.

The majority of the tracks on Michael Jackson's Bad album were actually written by Michael himself. The songs have also aged well with Alien Ant Farm introducing the single Smooth Criminal to a new generation.

Quincy Jones, who produced the album, said that they wanted a tough album and I think that they managed it.

Bad (Spec)
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Track Listing

1. Bad
2. The Way You Make Me Feel
3. Speed Demon
4. Liberian Girl
5. Just Good Friends - Michael Jackson, Britten, Terry
6. Another Part of Me
7. Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson, Garrett, Siedah
8. I Just Can't Stop Loving You
9. Dirty Diana
10. Smooth Criminal
11. Leave Me Alone
12. Streetwalker
13. Todo Mi Amor Eres Tu (I Just Can't Stop Loving You) - Michael Jackson, Blades, Ruben
14. Fly Away

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To me Thriller is a must have album of the 80s, whatever you think of Michael Jackson these days in the 80s he ruled! Thriller was an amazing album and really catered to the MTV crowd who doesn't remember the Thriller video?

Most people who lived through the 80s would know all of the singles from this album. Not only was Thriller the 3rd best selling album of the 80s in the UK it also swept away with 8 Grammys.

• Album of the Year


• Record of the Year (Beat It)


• Best Male Pop Vocals (Thriller)


• Best Male Rock Vocals (Beat It)


• Best Male R & B Vocals (Billie Jean)


• Best R & B Song (Billie Jean)


• Producer of the Year (Quincy Jones & Michael Jackson)


• Best Engineered Recording, Non Classical (Bruce Swedien)

Queen were a British rock group that was formed in 1970, in 1981 they released their first compilation album which was called Greatest Hits. As well as being the fourth best selling album of the 80s in the UK it is also the best selling album of all time in the UK.

This absolutely classic album that any rock fan should embrace includes the hits Bohemian Rhapsody, We Are The Champions, Another One Bites the Dust and Killer Queen.

Queen - Greatest Hits Vol.1/UK Version
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Track Listing

1. Bohemian Rhapsody
2. Another One Bites The Dust
3. Killer Queen
4. Fat Bottomed Girls
5. Bicycle Race
6. You're My Best Friend
7. Play The Game
8. Flash
9. Seven Seas Of Rhye
10. We Will Rock You
11. We Are The Champions
12. Don't Stop Me Now
13. Save Me
14. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
15. Somebody To Love
16. Now I'm Here
17. Good Old-Fashoned Lover Boy

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Kylie Minogue came to prominence in the UK with her role as Charlene on the Australian soap opera Neighbours. Kylie and co-star Jason Donovan both decided to try their luck in the UK and pursued singing careers.

Kylie joined the Stock. Aitken & Waterman stables and produced hit singles such as I Should Be So Lucky and Loco-Motion both of which are on this, her debut album. The album, self-titled Kylie recieved mixed reviews as it was very cutesy and was a classic case of people buying it because they loved Kylie Minogue as opposed to enjoying the music.

I find it hard to believe that this was the fifth biggest selling album of the 80s in the UK.......I blame one of my friend's brothers for this as he was a Kylie fanatic!

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It is hardly surprising that Whitney Houston should take out the 6th best selling album of the 80s as her debut album - Whitney became the biggest selling debut album of all time for a solo artist.

Her fantastic voice helped her to make a hugely successful cross over from Gospel to pop and even today people the world over attempt to sing Saving All My Love For You on the reality hit show Idol. Saving All My Love For You was Whitney Houston's second single off of this album and was a number one single in both the UK and the US. My favorite single on this album (and I had both of Whitney Houstons first two albums) was How Will I Know.

Whitney Houston's biggest hit of all time could also be found on this album and that is the Greatest Love of All.

If you want to know a great 80s album to give someone then this is definately one you should consider.

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Fleetwood Mac was formed way back in 1967 and had experienced varied levels of success from the late 60s through until the 80s. During the late 70s and into the 80s Fleetwood Mac gave their sound a more popsy feel and added Stevie Nicks as another vocalist.

Tango in the Night became Fleetwood Macs biggest selling album in the UK even outselling Rumours (which I personally think was their best album).

After the Tango in the Night album the most successful line-up of Fleetwood Mac namely Lindsay Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood broke up.

The album released the fantastic singles Little Lies and Seven Wonders among others.

Before Phil Collins released a solo single he was best known as lead singer and drummer for the British rock band Genesis. A fantastic drummer and a good singer Phil Collins was a mainstay in the UK charts throughout the 80s with hits such as Sussudio and One More Night.

No Jacket Required became the 8th best selling album of the 80s in the UK and went straight to the number one album spot in both the US and UK when it was released. The album received the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1985, but where did the name come from?

No Jacket Required came from an incident when Phil Collins was refused admittance to a restaurant because the jacket he was wearing wasn't deemed 'proper' enough. This story was one that Phil Collins told regularly when he was on talk shows.

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Madonna owned the 80s and this album, her third, recieved critical acclaim and let her own the crown of Queen of Pop. True Blue allowed Madonna to show off her strong voice as it had the ballad Live to Tell which was a change from the pop hits that she had previously released.

One of my all time favorite Madonna songs is Papa Don't Preach and that was also off of her True Blue album. Check out more at Madonna in the 80s.

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The rockers from Ireland known as U2 was formed in the late 70s and by the mid 80s had become one of the top international acts. The Joshua Tree was U2's fifth album and catapaulted them to a whole new level, if an album ever defined a group than this is the album that defined U2.

Hit singles such as Where the Streets Have No Name, With or Without You and I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For are just as relevant today as they were in 1987 when they were released. This album took U2 to a whole new level and made them one of Ireland's biggest exports.

This 80s music page was last updated by lou16 on 27th May 2011