1980 in music


This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1980.

Specific locations

Specific genres

Events

January–March

April–June

July–September

October–December

Also in 1980

Bands formed

Bands disbanded

Albums released

August

Release date unknown

80/81 – Pat Metheny100 M.P.H. – VardisAcnalbasac Noom – Slapp HappyActing My Age - GraduateAnother String of Hot Hits – The ShadowsArmy Life – The ExploitedThe Audience with Betty Carter – Betty CarterAuthority Stealing – Fela KutiAutumn – George WinstonBaby's Got a Gun – The Only OnesThe Beginning – Midnight StarBetween a Hard Place and the Ground – Mike BloomfieldBlue Angel – Blue AngelThe Brains – The BrainsBreaking Glass – Hazel O'Connor – SoundtrackBrother Ray is at it Again – Ray CharlesBunny Wailer Sings the Wailers – Bunny WailerButcher Baby – PlasmaticsCamellia III and Camellia IV – Ebiet G. AdeCaught You – Steel PulseCognac & Bologna – Doug and the SlugsColours (Resurrection Band album) – Resurrection BandChas Jankel – Chaz JankelA Decade of Rock and Roll 1970 to 1980 – REO Speedwagon – CompilationDome 1 – DomeDrastic Measures – 7 Seconds – cassetteDub Disco – Bunny WailerEje Nlogba – King Sunny AdeEmpire Strikes Back Soundtrack – John Williams – SoundtrackExploited Barmy Army – The ExploitedThe First, the Best and the Last – Sham 69Framed – Asleep at the WheelGap Band III – The Gap BandThe Game – Sham 69Getting a Head – Bob OstertagGideon – Kenny Rogers Glass House Rock – Greg KihnGood News – Sweet Honey in the RockGravity – Fred FrithGreatest Hits – Rita CoolidgeGyrate – PylonHail H.I.M. – Burning SpearHappy Woman Blues – Lucinda WilliamsHeathen Earth – Throbbing Gristle Hideaway – David SanbornHold On – Carolyne MasHumans – Bruce CockburnI Believe – The BuzzcocksIkite Itemo Iidesuka – Miyuki NakajimaImmer nur träumen – Die FlippersIn Concert, Zürich October 28, 1979 – Chick Corea and Gary BurtonInside Job – Dion DiMucciInside My Brain – Angry SamoansThe Inside Story – Robben FordInvasion – Manilla Road Iron Curtain Innocence – Bobb TrimbleIt's What's Inside That Counts – Critical MassJane from Occupied Europe – Swell MapsThe Jealous Kind – Delbert McClintonJoy and Pain – Maze featuring Frankie BeverlyJust Like That – Toots & the MaytalsKano – KanoLittle Stevie Orbit – Steve Forbert...Live... – Klaus Schulze – LiveLive at Last – Good RatsLive at the North Sea Jazz Festival, 1980 – Oscar PetersonLive in der Balver Höhle – PiirpaukeLive in Vienna – Cluster & FarnbauerLiving Dub Vol. 2 – Burning SpearLKJ in Dub – Linton Kwesi JohnsonThe Long Riders – Ry CooderLooking at Bird – Archie SheppThe Lord Will Make a Way – Al GreenLose It Tonight – Commander Cody and His Lost Planet AirmenLove Approach – Tom BrowneLove Crimes – HarlequinLove in Exile – Eddy GrantLove Sensation – Loleatta HollowayMaestra Vida: Primera Parte – Ruben BladesMake a Little Magic – Nitty Gritty Dirt BandMe Myself I – Joan ArmatradingMekons – The MekonsMemento z banalnym tryptykiem – SBBMichael Franks with Crossfire Live – Michael FranksMerzbild Schwet – Nurse With WoundMing – David Murray OctetMonster – Herbie HancockMusic of Many Colors – Fela Kuti with Roy AyersA Musical Affair – Ashford and SimpsonMy Babe – Roy BuchananNever Alone – Amy GrantNight Passage – Weather ReportNow We May Begin – Randy CrawfordNurds – The RochesOne Bad Habit – Michael FranksOperation Radication – YellowmanOri Mi Ja Fun Mi – King Sunny AdeParanoid Time – MinutemenPaul Davis – Paul DavisPenguin Eggs – Nic JonesPeople – James BrownPermanent Wave – John Hartford, The DillardsThe Personal Touch – Oscar PetersonPlay – MagazinePlay Me or Trade Me – ParletPopo – Art Pepper and Shorty RogersPucker Up – Lipps Inc. Quintet '80 – David GrismanRastakraut Pasta – Moebius & PlankReal Eyes – Gil Scott HeronRed Exposure – ChromeReflections – Chet AtkinsRépression – TrustRoky Erickson and the Aliens – Roky Erickson and the AliensRunning for My Life – Judy CollinsSails of Silver – Steeleye SpanSan Antonio Blues – Willie Nelson with Ray PriceSelbstportrait – Vol. II – Hans-Joachim RoedeliusSelbstportrait Vol. III "Reise durch Arcadien" – Hans-Joachim RoedeliusSnap Crackle and Bop – John Cooper ClarkeSneak Me In – Lucifer's FriendSocial Studies – Carla BleySnockgrass – Michael Hurley Something Better Change – D.O.A.Soul Syndrome – James BrownSpecial People – Andrew CyrilleSpellbound – Dennis BrownStorm Windows – John PrineSweat Band – Sweat BandTake It Easy Baby – Buckwheat ZydecoTears and Laughter – Johnny MathisTennis – Chris ReaThis Ain't Hollywood – DeGarmo and KeyThis Time – Al JarreauTo the Quiet Men from a Tiny Girl – Nurse With WoundTouch – TouchTrilogy: Past Present Future – Frank SinatraTruth Decay – T-Bone BurnettTwo – GQTwo Miles from Heaven – Mott the Hoople – CompilationUp-Front – The FleshtonesWall of Voodoo – Wall of VoodooWe Are...Every One of Us – Sweet Honey in the RockWhen Two Worlds Collide – Jerry Lee LewisWhere Are All the Nice Girls? - Any TroubleWho's Been Talking – The Robert Cray BandThe Woman I Loved So Well - PlanxtyYes! Jesus Loves Me – John FaheyYou and Me at Home – John HartfordZydeco Gris Gris – BeauSoleil

Awards

Biggest hit singles

The following songs achieved the highest
in the charts of 1980.
#ArtistTitleYearCountryChart entries
1Pink FloydAnother Brick in the Wall (part 2)1979

US and UK and Japan #1 hit singles

US #1 singles and artist
"Please Don't Go" – KC and the Sunshine Band
"Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" – Rupert Holmes
"Rock with You" – Michael Jackson
"Do That to Me One More Time" – Captain & Tennille
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" – Queen
"Another Brick in the Wall, Part II" – Pink Floyd
"Call Me" – Blondie
"Funkytown" – Lipps Inc
"Coming Up " – Paul McCartney
"It's Still [Rock and Roll to Me]" – Billy Joel
"Magic" – Olivia Newton-John
"Sailing" – Christopher Cross
"Upside Down" – Diana Ross
"Another One Bites the Dust" – Queen
"Woman in Love" – Barbra Streisand
"Lady" – Kenny Rogers
"(Just Like) Starting Over" – John Lennon

UK #1 singles and artist
"Another Brick in the Wall, Part II" – Pink Floyd
"Brass in Pocket" – The Pretenders
"The Special AKA Live!" – The Specials
"Coward of the County" – Kenny Rogers
"Atomic" – Blondie
"Together We Are Beautiful" – Fern Kinney
"Going Underground/The Dreams Of Children" – The Jam
"Working My Way Back to You" – Detroit Spinners
"Call Me" – Blondie
"Geno" – Dexys Midnight Runners
"What's Another Year" – Johnny Logan
"Suicide Is Painless" – The Mash
"Crying" – Don McLean
"Xanadu" – Olivia Newton-John & Electric Light Orchestra
"Use It Up and Wear It Out" – Odyssey
"The Winner Takes It All" – ABBA
"Ashes To Ashes" – David Bowie
"Start!" – The Jam
"Feels Like I'm in Love" – Kelly Marie
"Don't Stand So Close to Me" – The Police, best selling single of the year
"Woman in Love" – Barbra Streisand
"The Tide Is High" – Blondie
"Super Trouper" – ABBA
"(Just Like) Starting Over" – John Lennon
"There's No One Quite Like Grandma" – St Winifred's School Choir

Japanese Oricon #1 singles and artist
"Ihojin" – Saki Kubota
"" – Crystal King
"" –
"" – Chanels
"" –
"" – Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi
"" – Toshihiko Tahara
"" – Seiko Matsuda
"I'm In the Mood for Dancing" – The Nolans
"" – Mayumi Itsuwa
"" – Masahiko Kondō

Notable singles

Song titleArtistRelease dateOther Chart Performance
"A Forest"The CureMarch 198020 - 26 - 31 - 38 - 47
"Another Nail in My Heart"SqueezeJanuary 198010 - 17 - 56
"C·30 C·60 C·90 Go" b/w "Sun Sea and Piracy"Bow Wow WowJuly 198034
"Freedom of Choice"DevoMay 19808 - 71 - 103
"The Breaks"Kurtis BlowJune 19804 - 9 - 87
"The Friend Catcher"The Birthday PartySeptember 198021
"Holiday in Cambodia"The Dead KennedysSeptember 19802
"I Will Follow"U2October 198020 - 34 - 71 Note: This single charted in 1981.
"Kill the Poor"Dead KennedysOctober 19801 - 49
"Love Will Tear Us Apart"Joy DivisionJune 19801 - 1 - 13 - 26 - 42
"Rescue"Echo & the BunnymenMay 198062
"Sister Europe"The Psychedelic FursFebruary 198047 - 100
"Wardance"Killing JokeFebruary 198050

Classical music">European classical music">Classical music

[Opera]

[Musical theater]

Barnum – Broadway production opened at the St. James Theatre on April 30 and ran for 854 performancesBrigadoon – Broadway revival opened at the Majestic Theatre on October 16 and ran for 133 performancesCamelot – Broadway revival opened at the New York State Theater on July 8 and ran for 56 performancesColette – London production opened at the Comedy Theatre on September 24 and ran for 47 performancesA Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine – Broadway production opened at the John Golden Theatre on April 2 and transferred to the Royale Theatre on June 17 for a total run of 588 performancesForty-Second Street – Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on August 25, transferred to the Majestic Theatre on March 30, 1981, and transferred to the St. James Theatre on April 7, 1987, for a total run of 3486 performancesThe Life and Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby – London production opened at the Aldwych Theatre on June 5On The Twentieth Century – London production opened at Her Majesty's Theatre on March 19 and ran for 165 performancesSweeney Todd – London production opened at the Drury Lane Theatre on July 2 and ran for 157 performances

[Musical film]s

The Blues BrothersCan't Stop the MusicFameThe IdolmakerThe Jazz SingerKallukkul EeramLa boumOne Trick PonyPopeyeQurbaniRam BalramTimes Square

Births

Deaths