16 January –Paul McCartney is arrested in Tokyo for possession of one-half pound (230 g) ofmarijuana. The remaining part of McCartney's tour has to be cancelled.
25 January –Paul McCartney is released from a Japanese jail and ejected from the country by Japanese authorities.
8 February –David Bowie and his wife of nearly 10 years, Angie, file for divorce. Bowie gets custody of their nine-year-old sonZowie.
30 April – The first performance of theQuartetto Intimo (composed 1930-32) byJohn Foulds takes place at Hartlebury Castle, performed by theEndellion String Quartet as part of the 1980 Bromsgrove Festival.
18 May –Ian Curtis, vocalist of pioneeringpost-punk groupJoy Division, hangs himself in hisMacclesfield home. His death comes just days before Joy Division are scheduled to begin their first U.S. tour.
14 July – Malcolm Owen of punk rock bandthe Ruts is found dead in the bathroom of his parents' house inHayes, from a heroin overdose.
The 1980s got off to an odd start with a very varied list of artists reaching No. 1 in the singles chart.Kenny Rogers,The Jam andOdyssey were among those vying for the top position. TheGuinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums stated that the year had a very dated appearance, because of a number of songs reaching No. 1 which had been recorded years previously, such as the "Theme from M*A*S*H*" andDon McLean's cover ofRoy Orbison's "Crying". TheSka andMod revivals reached their peak this year, with strong chart showings by The Jam,The Specials andMadness. 1970s favouritesABBA andBlondie both had their last years as chart heavyweights, clocking up 5 No.1 singles between them.David Bowie scored his second No.1 this year, while the death ofJohn Lennon at the end of the year gave him his first chart topper (and would dominate the early months of 1981).Kate Bush became the first British female artist to have a No.1 album, andThe Police finished the year as the top selling act. "Brass in Pocket" byThe Pretenders became the first number 1 single of the 80s (not counting "Another Brick in the Wall" byPink Floyd" which was a holdover from 1979).
The tables below include sales between 31 December 1979 and 31 December 1980: the year-end charts reproduced in the issue ofMusic Week dated 27 December 1980 and played on Radio 1 on 4 January 1981 only include sales figures up until 6 December 1980.[1]
