It's The 80s UK Music Quiz: Part 2

Answer: Cliff Richard

"Oh, it's Christmas time, mistletoe and wine
Children singing Christian rhyme
With logs on the fire and gifts on the tree
A time to rejoice in the good that we see..."

"Mistletoe And Wine" spent four weeks at the top of the Official UK Charts in December 1988. It was one of 14 number ones for Cliff Richard among 68 UK top tens from 1958.

Answer: Julio Iglesias

In October 1981, Julio Iglesias had one week at the top with "Begin The Beguine (Volera A Empezar)". "Begin the Beguine" was written by Cole Porter in 1935. It was sung by June Knight in the Broadway musical "Jubilee".

The three wrong answers were also number ones not sung in English. (You can thank me later for putting "The Ketchup Song" into your heads.)

Answer: Kim Wilde

In July 1958, Marty Wilde reached number four with "Endless Sleep". He was to have six more singles in the top ten. In February 1981, Kim Wilde reached number two with "Kids In America", one of eight top tens.

Kim was not even born when her dad had his first big hit.

Answer: Boy George

With his elaborate make up, Boy George (real name George O'Dowd) was one of the most recognisable pop characters of his generation.

Boy George had five solo songs in the top 40, including "Everything I Own" at number one. Before that solo career Culture Club had 12 in the top 40, including the chart toppers "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" and "Karma Chameleon".

Answer: Sheena Easton

"The Big Time" was a TV documentary series that ran from 1976 to 1980 and repeated the following year. In it, presenter Esther Rantzen followed individuals as they sought to take their talents into the limelight. One of these was Sheena Easton, a 19-year-old from Glasgow with ambitions of becoming a pop star. She was carefully photographed and groomed by top professionals during series three in 1980.

In April of that year, her debut single "Modern Girl" reached number eight on the Official UK Charts. This was followed up by "9 to 5", which reached number three and number one on the Billboard Hot 100 as "Morning Train (9 to 5)". She went on to have another UK number eight with the James Bond theme song "For Your Eyes Only".

She went on to appear in a number of television shows and on Broadway.

Answer: The Young Ones

"Living Doll" was a number one hit for Cliff Richard and the Drifters (no, not those Drifters) in July 1959.
Cliff Richard and the Drifters later became known as Cliff Richard and the Shadows due to a name clash with another band (yes, those Drifters.)

In 1986, "Living Doll" became a number one for the second time when Cliff was joined by the lead actors from the comedy show "The Young Ones" for a charity single. The TV show was based on the mayhem that surrounded four young college students sharing the accommodation.

Answer: Do They Know It's Christmas?

"Do They Know It's Christmas?" was the single from the collective egos of British pop music who made up Band Aid to raise money for charitable efforts in Africa. It became the biggest selling single in the UK of all time, replacing "Mull of Kintyre" by Wings.

"Relax" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood and "Two Tribes", also by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, were numbers two and four in the list of best-selling singles of the 1980s.

Elton John's reworking of "Candle In The Wind" for the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997 took over as the best-selling British single of all time.

Answer: Madonna

Hopefully that question gave you pause for thought. Between them, those four artists had 15 number one singles in the UK during the decade. Madonna, though, topped the list with six. The others had three apiece. Collectively they occupied the top spot for 34 weeks.

Best of the Brits were Pet Shop Boys, Shakin' Stevens, David Bowie, The Jam and Wham!, with four apiece.

Answer: Never Gonna Give You Up

Rick Astley's song was number 12 on that list. "Do The Bartman" from 1990 was 10th; "We're Going To Ibiza" by Vengaboys from 1999 was number 20; "Barbie Girl", by Aqua, from 1997 was number three.

And number one on the list? Step forward James Blunt, "You're Beautiful".

Answer: The Cure

In November 2020, "Time Out" compiled a list of "The absolute best '80s songs". At number one they placed The Cure.

Released in 1985, "Close To Me" topped out at number 24 on the Official UK Charts. Between 1980 and 2008, The Cure had four UK top ten hits. Their album "Wish" was a UK number one in 1992. Hailing from Crawley, West Sussex, the band formed in 1978, although went through severally personnel changes. The one constant in that time was songwriter and lead singer Robert Smith.