A little something to pass the time between Christmas and New Year, here’s a chance to discover just how much you know about ’80s music. There are eight categories with ten questions in each, so – yes! – 80 ’80s questions. You’ll find the answers here but please don’t cheat or we’ll make you listen to a C90 of Keith Harris and Orville’s greatest hits.
Touched for the very first time
Which acts first reached the UK top 40 with these songs before going on to greater things?
1. Planet Earth
2. Tears Are Not Enough
3. Messages
4. All Fall Down
5. Dance Stance
6. Hot Dog
7. Windpower
8. Orange Crush
9. Ceremony
10. Sleepwalk
Not number 1
These acts all had multiple chart toppers in the ’80s, but which of the three wasn’t a number 1 single in the UK?
11. WHAM!: I’m Your Man, Bad Boys, Freedom
12. MADONNA: Like A Virgin, True Blue, Who’s That Girl
13. DURAN DURAN: Is There Something I Should Know, A View To A Kill, The Reflex
14. THE POLICE: Don’t Stand So Close To Me, So Lonely, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
15. PET SHOP BOYS: It’s A Sin, Heart, What Have I Done To Deserve This?
16. BLONDIE: Rapture, Atomic, The Tide Is High
17. KYLIE MINOGUE: I Should Be So Lucky, Hand On Your Heart, The Loco-motion
18. SHAKIN’ STEVENS: Oh Julie, You Drive Me Crazy, This Ole House
19. MICHAEL JACKSON: I Just Can’t Stop Loving You, One Day In Your Life, Man In The Mirror
20. THE JAM: Start, That’s Entertainment, Going Underground
One hit wonderland
They had one UK hit and never troubled the top forty again. What was the title of their hit?
21. Goombay Dance Band
22. Owen Paul
23. Fiction Factory
24. Hipsway
25. Furniture
26. Stan Ridgway
27. Hollywood Beyond
28. Animotion
29. Laurie Anderson
30. Krush
Diminishing returns
Which acts followed up their only UK number 1 hit with these less successful singles?
31. Ooh To Be Ah
32. Burn
33. Valentine
34. Overkill
35. Lover Come Back To Me
36. Ring Of Ice
37. Could’ve Been
38. Vienna Calling
39. Wot
40. Superfly Guy
Pardon?
Which ’80s hits include these lyrics?
41. “You’re about as easy as a nuclear war”
42. “They subjugate the meek but it’s the rhetoric of failure”
43. “You’re moving in circles, won’t you dilate?”
44. “There’s a place for us in a dirty movie”
45. “Da diddly qua qua, da diddly qua qua”
46. “I fear the crazed and lonely looks the mirror’s sending me these days”
47. “How can you show your face when you’re a disgrace to the human race?”
48. “In a secret life I was a Roundhead general”
49. “Leap to beat the clicks that keep on coming”
50. “Are we living in a land where sex and horror are the new gods?”
I’m not planning on going solo
One member of each of these bands had a solo UK number 1 in the ’80s. Who were they?
51. Genesis
52. The Commodores
53. The Damned
54. Culture Club
55. The Go-Gos
56. The Undertones
57. Blue Zone
58. Slik
59. The Equals
60. The Q-Tips
Didn’t I see you on the telly?
Which TV and/or movie stars had hit singles in the ’80s with these songs?
61. I Could Be So Good For You
62. Every Loser Wins
63. Love Don’t Live Here Anymore
64. She’s Like The Wind
65. Anyone Can Fall In Love
66. Under The Boardwalk
67. They Don’t Know
68. Heartbeat
69. Don’t It Make You Feel Good
70. Atmosphere
It’s over
Who had their last UK top 40 hit (not including reissues, remixes etc) with these songs?
71. Beat Surrender
72. How Many Lies?
73. Rock My World
74. Our Lips Are Sealed
75. I Gave You My Heart (Didn’t I)
76. Don’t Blame It On That Girl / Wap-Bam-Boogie
77. The Lion’s Mouth
78. Because Of You
79. When A Heart Beats
80. Watching The Wildlife
Remember, the answers are here but no cheating!
