NEW ORDER RELEASE A SYNTH-POP CLASSIC, BANANARAMA SPRING TO LIFE, U2 SCORE A FIRST NO.1 ALBUM AND DURAN DURAN FINALLY MAKE IT THE TOP
STEVE O’BRIEN
04 Linda Ronstadt finishes recording her album of traditional pop standards. What’s New would be released in September 1983 and peaks at No.3 on the Billboard chart and No.31 in the UK.
05 Michael Jackson starts a seven-week run at No.1 in the US with Billie Jean, his fourth solo American chart-topper.
07 Bananarama release their debut album, Deep Sea Skiving, on London Records. It peaks at No.7 in the UK.
07 New Order release Blue Monday as a 12” single through Factory Records. A UK No.9, the track would go on to become the biggest-selling 12” of all time, shifting almost 1.2 million copies in the UK alone.
12 Bonnie Tyler enjoys her only UK No.1 single with the Jim Steinman-penned Total Eclipse Of The Heart.
12 U2 score their first UK No.1 album with War. The LP, their third, features the singles New Year’s Day, Two Hearts Beat As One, Sunday Bloody Sunday and 40.
12 Melody Maker reports that Simon Gallup, former bassist with The Cure, has joined forces with fellow bandmate, keyboardist Matthieu Hartley, to form a new band called Cry.
14 Taylor Hanson, later of MMMBop hitmakers Hanson, is born in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
25 Motown Records celebrates its 25th anniversary with a concert in Pasadena, featuring Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Supremes, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and The Jackson 5.
26 Tears For Fears reach No.1 on the UK Albums Chart with debut long-player, The Hurting.
20 You’d think that, by March 1983, Duran Duran would have had a clutch of No.1s under their collective belt. Surely Girls On Film, Hungry Like The Wolf, Save A Prayer and Rio had reached the summit of the UK Singles Ch
