1982 in British music
This is a summary of 1982 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
Events
- 20 January – Ozzy Osbourne bites the head off a bat thrown at him during a performance, mistaking it for a toy.
- 3 March – The Barbican Arts Centre in London is opened by the Queen.
- 21 March – The Musical House that Max Built, a documentary about Peter Maxwell Davies, is broadcast by London Weekend Television, presented by Melvyn Bragg.
- 26 April – Rod Stewart is mugged in Los Angeles, California. Stewart loses his $50,000 Porsche to the mugger, but was not hurt.
- 10 May – Topper Headon is sacked from the Clash for his ongoing addiction to heroin, just a few days prior to the release of the band's Combat Rock album. He is replaced by original Clash drummer Terry Chimes.
- 15 May – "A Little Peace" becomes the 500th UK number-one single.
- 26 May – The Rolling Stones open their European tour in Aberdeen, Scotland.
- 22 August – The first performance of Image, Reflection, Shadow, by Peter Maxwell Davies takes place at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland.
- 28 August – Eric Burdon is arrested for cocaine possession after a show at the Rockpalast in Cologne.
- 11 September – The first concert is held at the new St David's Hall, Cardiff. The official opening is not until five months later.
- 14 September – Thea Musgrave's radio opera An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge premieres on BBC Radio 3.
- 22 September – The Who begin their only formally announced "farewell" tour in Washington, D.C.
- 2 October – The first performance of Imogen Holst‘s String Quintet takes place at the Cricklade Festival by the Endellion String Quartet with Steven Isserlis on cello. It is this work that Holst herself said made her “a real composer”.
- 30 October – Paul Weller shocks fans, and his bandmates, by announcing that the Jam are to disband, just prior to a short UK tour. "Beat Surrender" would be the band's final single, and became their fourth and final UK number one.
- 5 November – First broadcast of The Tube on Channel 4.
- 11 December – The Jam give their final performance together, at Brighton Conference Centre, just before their split.
Charts
Number-one singles
"The Model"/"Computer Love" was the first single by a German artist to top the chart since its establishment 29 years earlier. By the end of 1982, there had been two further number ones by German artists, "Seven Tears" and "A Little Peace".Year-end charts
The tables below include sales between 1 January and 31 December 1982: the year-end charts reproduced in the issue of Music Week dated 26 December 1982 and played on Radio 1 on 2 January 1983 only include sales figures up until 11 December 1982.Best-selling singles
Best-selling albums
'Notes:'''
Classical music
New works
- Malcolm Arnold – Trumpet Concerto
- David Bedford – The Juniper Tree, for soprano, recorder and harpsichord
- Richard Rodney Bennett
- *After Syrinx, for oboe and piano
- *Anniversaries, for ensemble
- *Freda's Fandango, for ensemble
- *Summer Music, for flute and piano
- Lennox Berkeley
- *Mazurka for piano
- *Sonnet for high voice and piano
- Michael Berkeley
- *The Crocodile and Father William, for girls choir
- *Easter, anthem for choir, organ and brass
- *Gregorian Variations for orchestra
- *Guitar Sonata in one movement
- *Nocturne for flute, harp, violin, viola and cello
- *Piano Trio
- *Romance of the Rose, for orchestra
- David Blake
- *Change is Going to Come, for mezzo, baritone, chorus and four players
- *String Quartet No. 3
- Edward Cowie
- *Choral Symphony
- *Harp Concerto
- *Kate Kelly's Roadshow, music theatre
- *Kelly Ballet
- *Symphony No 2, Australian
- Gordon Crosse
- *A Wake, for flute, clarinet, cello and piano
- *Rhymes and Reasons, Trio for clarinet, cello and piano
- Peter Maxwell Davies
- *Image, Reflection, Shadow, for ensemble
- *Organ Sonata
- *Pole Star March for brass quintet or band
- *Sea Eagle, for horn
- *Sinfonia Concertante for chamber orchestra
- *Songs of Hoy, masque for children's voices
- Peter Dickinson – The Unicorns, for soprano and brass band
- Brian Ferneyhough – Carceri d'Invenzione for chamber orchestra
- Michael Finnissy
- *Aijal, for flute, oboe and percussion
- *Anninnia, for soprano and piano
- *Banumbirr, for ensemble
- *Dilok, for oboe and piano
- *Gerhana, for solo percussion
- *Mississippi Hornpipe, for violin and piano
- *Tya, for ensemble
- *Warara, for tenor, flute, clarinet and two percussion
- Iain Hamilton
- *Love is Life's Spring, for soprano and piano
- *St Mark's Passion, for soli and chorus
- Robin Holloway
- *Anthem, for unaccompanied voices
- *Concertino No. 4 Showpiece, for fourteen players
- *From Hills and Valleys, for brass band
- *Men Marching for brass band
- *Serenata Notturna, for four horns and small orchestra
- *Suite for saxophone
- *Women in War, review for four female soloists and piano
- Gordon Jacob – Flute concerto No. 2, for flute and strings
- Wilfred Josephs
- *High Spirits, orchestral overture
- *Percussion Concerto, for percussion and brass
- *Two Flute Studies
- *Viola Concerto
- Kenneth Leighton – Fantasy Octet Hommage to Percy Grainger
- John McCabe
- *Concerto for Orchestra
- *Desert III: Landscape, for violin, cello and piano
- *Lamentation Rag, for piano
- *String Quartet No. 4
- Elizabeth Maconchy
- *My Dark Heart, song cycle for soprano and ensemble
- William Mathias
- *Antiphonies, for organ
- *Lux Aeterna, for soli, chorus, organ and orchestra
- *Salvator Mundi, for female choir, piano duet, percussion and strings
- Nicholas Maw
- *Night Thoughts, for solo flute
- *Spring Music, for orchestra
- *String Quartet No. 2
- Thea Musgrave – Fanfare for brass quintet
- Paul Patterson – Sinfonia for strings
- John Tavener
- *Doxa, for chorus
- *The Lamb, for unaccompanied chorus
- *Lord's Prayer, for chorus
- *Mandoodles, for a young pianist
- *Towards the Son: Ritual Procession for chamber orchestra
- Michael Tippett – The Mask of Time, oratorio
- William Walton
- *Passacaglia, for solo cello
- *Prologo e Fantasia, for orchestra
- Hugh Wood – Symphony
Opera
- Lennox Berkeley – Faldon Park
- Gavin Bryars – Medea
- Alexander Goehr – Behold the Sun
- Wilfred Josephs – The Montgolfier's Famous Flying Club, operetta for schools
Film and Incidental music
- Michael Nyman – The Draughtsman's Contract directed by Peter Greenaway.
Musical theatre
- Anthony Burgess – Blooms of Dublin
- Geoffrey Burgon – ''Orpheus''
Music awards
BRIT Awards
The 1982 BRIT Awards winners were:- Best British producer: Martin Rushent
- Best classical recording: Gustav Mahler's – "Symphony No. 10"
- Best selling album: Adam and the Ants – "Kings of the Wild Frontier"
- British breakthrough act: The Human League
- British female solo artist: Randy Crawford
- British group: The Police
- British male solo artist: Cliff Richard
- Outstanding contribution: John Lennon
Births
- 11 January – Ashley Taylor Dawson, singer
- 16 January – Preston, singer
- 20 January – Chris Park, singer
- 10 March – Jonathan Ansell, tenor
- 6 March – Sinead Shepard, Irish singer
- 11 March – Kyle Anderson, Northern Irish singer
- 23 March – Emma O'Driscoll, Irish singer and TV presenter
- 7 April – Kelli Young, singer
- 26 April – Jon Lee, singer
- 30 April – Cleo Higgins, singer
- 7 June – Amy Nuttall, actress and opera singer
- 18 June – Haydon Eshun, singer
- 20 June – Example, singer-songwriter, musician and rapper
- 30 June – Ashley Walters, rapper and actor
- 17 July – Natasha Hamilton, singer
- 22 September – Billie Piper, singer and actress
- 4 October – YolanDa Brown, jazz saxophonist
- 14 December – Anthony Way, chorister
- 29 December – Cherise Roberts, singer
- date unknown – Charlotte Bray, composer
Deaths
- 6 January – Katherine Bacon, concert pianist, 85
- 12 January
- * Hervey Alan, operatic bass and voice teacher, 71
- * Dorothy Howell, pianist and composer, 83
- 18 January – Alec Robertson, music critic, 89
- 30 January – Stanley Holloway, actor, singer and monologist, 91
- 4 February – Alex Harvey, rock singer and entertainer, 46
- 20 March – Roy Fox, American-born dance bandleader, 80
- 1 May – William Primrose, violist, 77
- 6 May – Rosamond Harding, music scholar, 84
- 12 May – Humphrey Searle, composer, 66
- 24 May – Richard Hall, composer, 78
- 16 June – James Honeyman-Scott, guitarist of The Pretenders, 25
- 25 June – Alex Welsh, jazz musician, 52
- 29 June – Pipe Major Donald MacLeod, bagpipe musician and composer, 65
- 4 July – Maurice Blower, composer, 88
- 1 September – Clifford Curzon, classical pianist, 75
- 29 September – A. L. Lloyd, folk song collector, 74
- 6 October – Philip Green, film and TV composer and conductor, 71
- 8 October – Erik Routley, hymn writer and composer, 64
- 16 October – Rory McEwen, artist and musician, 50
- 29 October – William Lloyd Webber, organist and composer, 68
- 1 November
- *Dorothy Gow, composer, 89
- *Leighton Lucas, composer, 79
- 13 November – Chesney Allen, entertainer, 88
- 16 November – Arthur Askey, entertainer, 82
- 5 December – Caryl Brahms, musician and writer, 80
- 19 December – Lawrance Collingwood, conductor, composer and record producer, 95
- date unknown – Bob Roberts, folk singer, 74/75