Charlie's 80s Blog

This Day In 80s Music, August 23rd

On this day in 1980: David Bowie was at #1 on the U.K. singles chart with ‘Ashes To Ashes’ his second U.K. #1. Taken from the Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) album, the song continued the story of Major Tom from Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’. The video for ‘Ashes to Ashes’ was one of the most iconic of the 1980s and costing £250,000, it was at the time the most expensive music video ever made. Although the song did not chart in America on the Billboard Hot 100, the song was a staple on MTV in the early days of the channel and a staple on new wave radio.

Also on this day in 1980: The Heatwave Festival in Toronto, Canada took place with Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, The B-52’s, The Pretenders, Rockpile and The Rumour. Tickets cost $30, with only 50,000 people attending the festival lost over $1 million.

Also this day in 1980: Olivia Newton-John was starting her fourth and final week at #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Magic.” Here’s a look at the complete Top 20 from this day back in 1980:

1 1 MAGIC –•– Olivia Newton-John (MCA)-14 (4 weeks at #1) (1)
2 2 SAILING –•– Christopher Cross (Warner Brothers)-11 (2)
3 3 TAKE YOUR TIME (Do It Right) (Part 1) –•– The S.O.S. Band (Tabu)-13 (3)
4 4 EMOTIONAL RESCUE –•– The Rolling Stones (Rolling Stones)-8 (4)
5 5 UPSIDE DOWN –•– Diana Ross (Motown)-7 (5)
6 6 IT’S STILL ROCK AND ROLL TO ME –•– Billy Joel (Columbia)-14 (1)
7 13 FAME –•– Irene Cara (RSO)-11 (7)
8 21 ALL OUT OF LOVE –•– Air Supply (Arista)-11 (8)
9 9 LET MY LOVE OPEN THE DOOR –•– Pete Townshend (Atco)-11 (9)
10 10 MORE LOVE –•– Kim Carnes (EMI-America)-13 (10)

11 15 GIVE ME THE NIGHT –•– George Benson (Warner Brothers / Qwest)-8 (11)
12 7 SHINING STAR –•– The Manhattans (Columbia)-18 (5)
13 29 LATE IN THE EVENING –•– Paul Simon (Warner Brothers)-3 (13)
14 14 MISUNDERSTANDING –•– Genesis (Atlantic)-14 (14)
15 16 TAKE A LITTLE RHYTHM –•– Ali Thomson (A&M)-11 (15)
16 17 INTO THE NIGHT –•– Benny Mardones (Polydor)-11 (16)
17 19 JOJO –•– Boz Scaggs (Columbia)-11 (17)
18 20 WHY NOT ME –•– Fred Knoblock (Scotti Brothers)-9 (18)
19 28 LOOKIN’ FOR LOVE –•– Johnny Lee (Full Moon)-7 (19)
20 26 YOU’RE THE ONLY WOMAN (You & I) –•– Ambrosia (Warner Brothers)-7 (20)

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