50 Fun Facts About 1981 Music

Which newly signed solo singer bit the head off a dove during a CBS Records meeting in Los Angeles?

Ozzy Osbourne had planned to release doves as a peace gesture, but grabbed one and bit its head off instead. The notorious bat incident came a year later, on stage in Des Moines.

Which Dolly Parton song, with a typewriter rhythm tapped out on acrylic fingernails, topped the Hot 100 in February?

9 to 5 is one of the few chart hits to feature the clacking of a typewriter, a rhythm Parton devised by running her acrylic nails against each other. It was her first solo pop number one.

Which Blondie single, name-checking hip-hop pioneer Fab 5 Freddy, was the first US number one to feature a rap?

Rapture was the first number-one single in the United States to feature rap vocals, delivered by Debbie Harry herself. Fab 5 Freddy and Jean-Michel Basquiat make cameo appearances in the video.

Which duo, apart since Bridge over Troubled Water, reunited for a free Central Park concert drawing some 500,000 people?

Simon & Garfunkel had broken up at the height of their popularity, and the Great Lawn reunion on 19 September became a live album and a TV special. The show doubled as a benefit for the run-down park.

Which band's ballad 'Waiting for a Girl Like You' sat a record ten weeks at number two without reaching the top?

Foreigner were held off the top for nine weeks by Olivia Newton-John's 'Physical' and then by Hall & Oates for a tenth. The ballad still ranked among Billboard's biggest hits of 1982.

Which band formed in Los Angeles after Danish drummer Lars Ulrich advertised for metal musicians in The Recycler?

Metallica began when James Hetfield answered Lars Ulrich's Recycler ad, which asked for players into Tygers of Pan Tang, Diamond Head and Iron Maiden. Their debut Kill 'Em All followed in 1983.

Which John Lennon single, a two-week UK number one, knocked his own re-released 'Imagine' off the top?

Woman was Lennon's ode to Yoko Ono and to all women, opening with a whispered line that paraphrases a Chinese proverb once used by Mao Zedong. Lennon called it a grown-up version of the Beatles' 'Girl'.

Which Specials single about urban decay sat at UK number one for three weeks as riots broke out across English cities?

Ghost Town was named Single of the Year by Melody Maker, NME and Sounds after serving as an 'instant musical editorial' on that summer's riots. The band fell apart within months of its success.

Which Adam and the Ants single, its video a 'dandy highwayman' romp, debuted at UK number one and stayed five weeks?

Stand and Deliver debuted at the top of the UK chart on 3 May and became the year's third best-selling single, passing a million copies. Its video nods to Monty Python's 'Dennis Moore' sketch.

Which album, ABBA's last studio release for four decades, was among the earliest manufactured on compact disc?

The Visitors stood as ABBA's final album until Voyage arrived in 2021, and was one of the first albums recorded and mixed digitally. It was also among the earliest albums issued on compact disc, following Billy Joel's 52nd Street.

Which band, formed by Paul and Linda McCartney in 1971, disbanded after guitarist Denny Laine departed?

Wings bowed out quietly after Laine's departure, a year after a live version of 'Coming Up' had given them a US number one. McCartney went solo again with Tug of War.

Which George Harrison single, a tribute to John Lennon, had Ringo Starr on drums and Paul McCartney on backing vocals?

All Those Years Ago was the first record to feature Harrison, McCartney and Starr together since 'I Me Mine' in 1970, and their last until 'Free as a Bird'. It spent three weeks at US number two.

Which AC/DC album, the follow-up to Back in Black, first took the band to number one on the Billboard 200?

For Those About to Rock held the top of the Billboard chart for three weeks and remained AC/DC's only US number one album until Black Ice in 2008. Its title track is famous for its cannon fire.

Which Kool & the Gang single, the band's only Hot 100 number one, held the top for two weeks in February?

Celebration had already topped Billboard's dance and R&B charts in late 1980 before reaching number one on the Hot 100 on 7 February, where Dolly Parton's film theme overtook it.

Which Stevie Wonder single was issued to push for a US national holiday honouring Martin Luther King Jr?

Happy Birthday became the anthem of Wonder's campaign, and King's birthday was signed into law as a federal holiday in 1983. The song is now a birthday standard in its own right.

Which Bette Midler song beat Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer to the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal in February?

The Rose was the title theme of Midler's film about a self-destructive rock star, and its Grammy came at the same Grammys that crowned Christopher Cross. Midler earned an Oscar nomination for the role.

Which Welsh revivalist, the decade's biggest UK singles seller, took 'This Ole House' and 'Green Door' to number one?

Shakin' Stevens followed those two chart-toppers with 'Oh Julie' and 'Merry Christmas Everyone', charting 28 UK top-40 singles in all. Both 1981 hits were covers of 1950s American records.

Which novelty dance hit by the Tweets, later voted the most annoying record of all time, reached UK number two?

The Birdie Song is the British take on a Swiss accordion tune known elsewhere as the Chicken Dance, and its video has bird-costumed dancers miming the instruments. A 2000 dotmusic poll crowned it most annoying of all time.

Which Adam and the Ants album, the UK's best seller of the year, won Best British Album at the 1982 Brits?

Kings of the Wild Frontier outsold everything else in Britain that year, a full year after its release, riding the Antmusic craze. Its follow-up album arrived before the year was out.

Which band, formed by Martyn Ware and Ian Marsh on quitting the Human League, released Penthouse and Pavement?

Heaven 17 took its name from a fictional band in A Clockwork Orange, and singer Glenn Gregory had been Ware and Marsh's first choice to front the Human League. Philip Oakey got that job instead.

Which Genesis album, recorded at the Farm in Surrey, is titled with the section letters of an early song arrangement?

Abacab was named for a stage when the sections of the song were ordered A-B-A-C-A-B, and the track's working title was simply 'Odd'. The song went on to become a favourite of Tony Banks.

Which jazz-rock duo broke up in June after Gaucho, Walter Becker heading to Maui to become an 'avocado rancher'?

Steely Dan went quiet for more than a decade, with Becker turning 'self-styled critic of the contemporary scene' and Donald Fagen going solo with The Nightfly. The pair reunited to tour in 1993.

Which synth-pop star announced his retirement from touring with farewell concerts at Wembley Arena in April?

Gary Numan's Wembley farewell, supported by Nash the Slash and the mime troupe Shock, was filmed and released as Micromusic. His first album after the send-off was simply titled Dance.

The Human League's Dare, a UK number one album by its second week, modelled its sleeve on which magazine's cover?

Vogue was the look Philip Oakey wanted: the Dare sleeve copies a Vogue cover, lettering and all. Its fourth single became that year's Christmas number one.

Which Depeche Mode debut album, released on Mute, was the only one to feature founding member Vince Clarke?

Speak & Spell was released by Mute in the UK and Sire in the US, and Vince Clarke quit soon after, going on to form Yazoo with Alison Moyet. Martin Gore then took over the songwriting.

Which trio did Terry Hall, Neville Staple and Lynval Golding form after quitting the Specials at their peak?

Fun Boy Three stripped away the ska sound the three had made with Jerry Dammers, leaning on percussion and vocals, and soon teamed up with Bananarama for a hit. The group lasted only until 1983.

Which U2 album was written in a rush after a briefcase holding Bono's lyrics went missing at a Portland show?

October was hurried out with improvised lyrics after the theft in Portland, and the briefcase finally surfaced in 2004, when Bono called its return 'an act of grace'. Parts were written during a Minneapolis soundcheck.

Which New Order debut single was among the last songs written by Joy Division, with lyrics by Ian Curtis?

Ceremony was issued by Factory Records as FAC 33 on 6 March, less than a year after Ian Curtis's death, and New Order re-recorded it later in the year. Its B-side, 'In a Lonely Place', was also a Joy Division song.

Which performance artist's 'O Superman', championed by DJ John Peel, reached number two on the UK singles chart?

Laurie Anderson was barely known outside the art world before the minimalist single took off, and Warner Bros. agreed to distribute it at her request. NME ranked it among the year's top ten tracks.

Madness's UK number four hit 'It Must Be Love' was a cover of a 1971 single by which singer-songwriter?

Labi Siffre's original reached number 14 in January 1972, and Madness's version later landed on their chart-topping compilation Complete Madness. Siffre went on to write the anthem '(Something Inside) So Strong'.

Which newly recruited Squeeze keyboardist sang lead on 'Tempted', at the suggestion of producer Elvis Costello?

Paul Carrack, who had already sung Ace's 'How Long', was only briefly a member of Squeeze, and later fronted Mike + the Mechanics on 'The Living Years'. Glenn Tilbrook usually took the lead.

Which Elvis Costello album of country covers was recorded in Nashville with a reluctant producer, Billy Sherrill?

Almost Blue was taped in May at CBS Studio A in Nashville, in sessions so fraught that Sherrill himself resisted the project. Its cover of George Jones's 'Good Year for the Roses' became a UK top-ten hit.

Which Visage single, fronted by Steve Strange with a French spoken-word part, peaked at number eight in the UK?

Fade to Grey went to number one in West Germany and Switzerland, with its French lines spoken by Brigitte Arendt, girlfriend of drummer Rusty Egan. Midge Ure, then of Ultravox, was one of its co-writers.

Cliff Richard's 'Wired for Sound' video, shot in a shopping centre, was filmed in which English new town?

Milton Keynes Shopping Centre, then only two years old, was the setting, and the single reached number four in the UK. The song celebrates the new portable cassette players of the time.

Which singer's album Crimes of Passion won her first Grammy, for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, in February?

Pat Benatar went on to win the category four years running, and Crimes of Passion had been kept off the top of the US album chart only by John Lennon's Double Fantasy. 'Hit Me with Your Best Shot' was its big single.

Which Go-Go's single was co-written by Jane Wiedlin and the Specials' Terry Hall, drawing on their brief affair?

Our Lips Are Sealed opened the Go-Go's debut Beauty and the Beat and was their second single, released in June, before Hall cut his own version with his post-Specials trio. Wiedlin was the band's guitarist.

Which Oak Ridge Boys hit, with bass singer Richard Sterban's 'oom papa mow mow' chorus, reached the pop top five?

Elvira peaked at number five on the Hot 100 and topped Cashbox, then won the Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group. Dallas Frazier had written it back in 1965, named after a street in East Nashville.

Which Styx concept album about the rise and fall of a Chicago movie palace spent three weeks at US number one?

Paradise Theatre uses the real venue's 1928 opening and 1956 closure as a metaphor for America's drift from the 1970s into the 1980s, and gave Styx 'The Best of Times'. It was their most successful album.

Which Motörhead live album, despite its title recorded in Leeds and Newcastle, entered the UK chart at number one?

No Sleep 'til Hammersmith was taped at Leeds Queen's Hall and Newcastle City Hall in March, and Lemmy learned of the number one when his manager woke him in New York. It remains Motörhead's only UK chart-topper.

Which fragrance paid a reported $3 million to become the exclusive sponsor of the Rolling Stones' US tour?

Jōvan Musk bought the advertising rights in what was an early milestone for rock sponsorship, and the same trek pioneered pay-per-view with a Hampton Coliseum show on the day Keith Richards turned 38.

Which Grace Jones album, home to 'Pull Up to the Bumper', was voted album of the year by the writers of NME?

Nightclubbing was produced at Compass Point by Chris Blackwell and Alex Sadkin with Sly and Robbie in the band, and Jean-Paul Goude's cover portrait is ranked among the greatest ever. Six singles were pulled from it.

Which former backing singer on David Bowie's Young Americans made his solo debut with the album Never Too Much?

Luther Vandross had sung on Bowie's Young Americans sessions in 1974 and fronted the group Luther before Epic signed him solo; the title track became an R&B number one. He went on to win eight Grammys.

Which single sung by Bill Withers but credited to saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. won the Grammy for Best R&B Song?

Just the Two of Us peaked at number two on the Hot 100 in May and earned its writers, Withers, William Salter and Ralph MacDonald, the R&B Song Grammy. Will Smith borrowed its hook for a 1997 hit.

Which 1963 Lesley Gore hit went to UK number one for four weeks in a remake by Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin?

It's My Party had never topped the UK chart in Gore's version, and the Stewart-Gaskin remake also hit number one in Ireland and New Zealand. This Dave Stewart is the ex-Hatfield and the North keyboardist, not the Eurythmic.

Which Black Flag debut album, with new singer Henry Rollins, did MCA refuse to distribute as 'anti-parent'?

Damaged had 25,000 copies pressed through Unicorn before MCA's president Al Bergamo pulled out, so the band stuck labels quoting his 'anti-parent record' verdict over the MCA logo. 'Rise Above' opens it.

Which island nation made its Eurovision debut with the song 'Monika', performed by a group called Island?

Cyprus entered after the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation ran a public call for songs, and Island finished sixth of the twenty entries in Dublin. Malta had debuted back in 1971.

UB40's 'One in Ten' took its title from the share of the workforce claiming unemployment benefit in which region?

West Midlands unemployment claims were running at roughly one worker in ten the summer the Birmingham band recorded the song, which they aimed squarely at Margaret Thatcher. Even the band's name comes from a benefits form.

Which Yoko Ono single, whose unmastered tape John Lennon was holding when he was shot, was released that February?

Walking on Thin Ice was cut at the Hit Factory in early December 1980, and Lennon spent his last day mixing it. It earned Ono a Grammy nomination and, remixed in 2003, a US dance-chart number one.

George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley played together in which short-lived ska band before forming Wham! in Bushey?

The Executive also featured schoolfriend David Mortimer, later known as David Austin, and had already drawn a talent scout's eye before it split. Wham! went on to sell more than 30 million records.

Which Def Leppard album, released in July, was the first produced by Back in Black's producer Mutt Lange?

High 'n' Dry came out on 6 July and was where Lange helped Def Leppard define a melodic hard-rock sound; his 1984 remix of 'Bringin' On the Heartbreak' added synthesizers. Pyromania followed in 1983.