1988 in British music

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1988 in music

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This is a summary of 1988 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.

The growing popularity of house music was evident in the charts by the start of 1988, with many songs of this genre becoming big hits, such as "House Arrest" by Krush, "Beat Dis" by Bomb the Bass and "Rok da House" by The Beatmasters.^[1] Acid house band S'Express had two Top 10 hits this year including a number 1 in April with the song "Theme from S'Express", but the biggest dance hit of the year came from London singer Yazz, who had first had a big hit with producers Coldcut on the song "Doctorin' The House".^[2] Still with Coldcut, but now with her name billed as the lead artist, her song "The Only Way Is Up" topped the chart for five weeks, becoming the second biggest-selling single of the year, and paved the way for a successful solo career, including the follow-up "Stand Up For Your Love Rights" which hit No.2 in October.

One of the biggest successes of the year was 19-year-old Kylie Minogue, well known to the public from her role in the Australian soap opera Neighbours which had been airing on the BBC since 1986.^[3] The popularity of "girl next door" Minogue and her on-screen character Charlene Mitchell ensured chart success. Signed to the production trio Stock Aitken Waterman, her debut international song "I Should Be So Lucky" was number 1 for five weeks, and all of her other solo releases this year – "Got to Be Certain", "The Loco-Motion" and "Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi" – reached number 2. Her album Kylie was also number 1 for six weeks, the biggest-selling album of the year and the fifth best-selling album of the entire decade. All Kylie's hits were produced by Stock Aitken Waterman who continued to score hit after hit this year. The production powerhouse also scored Top 10s with Mel and Kim ("That's The Way It Is", No.10, February) Sinitta ("Cross My Broken Heart", No.6, March), Rick Astley ("Together Forever", No.2, March and "Take Me to Your Heart", No.8, November), Bananarama ("I Want You Back", No.5, April), Hazell Dean ("Who's Leaving Who", No.4, April), Brother Beyond ("The Harder I Try", No.2, August and "He Ain't No Competition", No.6, November). In September, another star from Neighbours – Minogue's co-star Jason Donovan – debuted with his Stock Aitken Waterman-produced hit "Nothing Can Divide Us" which reached number 5 and he would go on to outsell even Kylie the following year.

Popular teenage acts other than Minogue to emerge this year included the American singer Tiffany who scored three Top 10 hits including the No.1 "I Think We're Alone Now" while fellow American teenage star Debbie Gibson also crossed over to the British Charts and had four Top 20 hits. Gibson's biggest hit was the 1980s-compilation staple "Shake Your Love" which reached number 7 in January. Meanwhile, from Italy came Sabrina whose infamous appearances in skimpy swimsuits became tabloid-fodder throughout the year as her pan-European smash hit "Boys (Summertime Love)" hit number 3 in June and the Stock Aitken Waterman-produced follow-up "All of Me" peaked at number 25 three months later.^[4]

New British boyband Bros took five singles into the Top 5 this year including "When Will I Be Famous?" and their only number 1 "I Owe You Nothing", a re-issue of their first single originally released in 1987. Wet Wet Wet scored the first number 1 of their long run of hits with a cover of "With A Little Help From My Friends" which held the top position for 3 weeks.

Also making her chart debut this year was nineteen-year-old Tanita Tikaram, who launched her career with the critically acclaimed album Ancient Heart, containing the Top 10 hit "Good Tradition" and the intriguing "Twist In My Sobriety" which peaked at number 22 in October.^[5] Eddi Reader also rose to prominence during 1988 as the lead-singer of Fairground Attraction. The band made number 1 with the song "Perfect" and followed it up with another Top 10 hit, "Find My Love" and number 2 album The First of a Million Kisses.

Making chart comebacks after long-absences were Cher, re-launching her music career with "I Found Someone", a number 5 hit written and produced by Michael Bolton. Belinda Carlisle revived her career this year with three Top 10s including the number 1 "Heaven is a Place on Earth" while Kim Wilde scored a career-best three successive Top 10s with "You Came" (No.3), "Never Trust a Stranger (No.7) and "Four Letter Word" (No.6). Pop duo Dollar scored their ninth and final Top 20 hit with comeback hit "Oh L'amour", a cover of an early Erasure single, which made number 7 in April, and also making a chart comeback was the song "A Groovy Kind Of Love", originally a hit in 1965 for The Mindbenders, it hit number 1 in September for Phil Collins, taken from the film Buster in which Collins also starred.

Some of the more unusual hits of the year included a remix of the theme tune from the popular television series Doctor Who, by "The Timelords", who would go on to have huge success in the early 1990s under the name The KLF. Their song "Doctorin' The TARDIS" (a play on Coldcut's "Doctorin' The House") was number 1 for a week in June. A television advertisement for Miller Lite beer used the 1969 song "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" by The Hollies, which became a number 1 in September 19 years after its original release, and an advert for Coca-Cola gave Robin Beck a number 1 with the ballad "First Time". Film and Television actress Patsy Kensit, a teenager in 1988, also reached the Top 10 this year in the band Eighth Wonder. Their Pet Shop Boys–produced UK debut "I'm Not Scared" slowly climbed up the Top 40 and peaked at number 7 in May. The band were more popular in Italy and Japan where they scored several number 1 hits.

The race for Christmas number one was a battle between Cliff Richard, with a career stretching back to the 1950s and his seasonal song "Mistletoe and Wine", and new star Kylie Minogue with "Especially for You", a duet with her Neighbours co-star Jason Donovan released to coincide with their characters' on-screen wedding. Cliff won the battle with the biggest-selling song of the year, but "Especially for You" climbed to number 1 in the new year of 1989, eventually selling just short of 1 million copies.

1988 sees Radio 1 start to broadcast on FM on a full time basis across much of the UK when five major transmitters begin radiating Radio 1 on FM for the first time.^[6][7] Previously, Radio 1 had only been available on FM for approximately 25 hours per week, when it 'borrowed' BBC Radio 2's FM frequency at certain points of the day.

New classical works by British composers included oboe and trumpet concertos from Peter Maxwell Davies and Michael Finnissy's Red Earth for orchestra. Devotional works included Nicholas Jackson's Variations on ‘Praise to the Lord, the Almighty’ and John Tavener's The Akathist of Thanksgiving. Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin made his Proms debut during the 1988 season, whilst Sir Andrew Davis gave up his role as conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra to become director of Glyndebourne.^[8]

• February 8 – Kenney Jones performs for the last time as the regular drummer for The Who at the British Phonographic Industry awards ceremony, where the band receives the Lifetime Achievement Award.^[9]
• 15 February – The first public performance of Anthony Payne’s realisation of Elgar’s Symphony No. 3 is given by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Davis at the Royal Festival Hall.
• 10 March – Andy Gibb dies five days after his 30th birthday at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle caused by a recent viral infection and exacerbated by his years of cocaine abuse.^[10]
• 11 March – The first performance of Richard Rodney Bennett‘s Marimba Concerto takes place at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, performed by the Lehigh Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Donald Spieth.
• 16 April – A concert performance of the opera Beatrice Cenci by Berthold Goldschmidt takes place at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, 37 years after it won first prize in the Festival of Britain opera competition.^[11]
• 30 April – The Eurovision Song Contest, held in the RDS Simmonscourt Pavilion, Dublin, is won by Celine Dion, representing Switzerland. The UK entry, "Go", sung by Scott Fitzgerald, finishes in second place after leading for most of the judging.^[12]

^[13]

Chart date (week ending)	Song	Artist(s)	Weeks
2 January	"Always on My Mind"	Pet Shop Boys	2
9 January
16 January	"Heaven Is a Place on Earth"	Belinda Carlisle	2
23 January
30 January	"I Think We're Alone Now"	Tiffany	3
6 February
13 February
20 February	"I Should Be So Lucky"	Kylie Minogue	5
27 February
5 March
12 March
19 March
26 March	"Don't Turn Around"	Aswad	2
2 April
9 April	"Heart"	Pet Shop Boys	3
16 April
23 April
30 April	"Theme from S-Express"	S'Express	2
7 May
14 May	"Perfect"	Fairground Attraction	1
21 May	"With a Little Help from My Friends" / "She's Leaving Home"	Wet Wet Wet / Billy Bragg	4
28 May
4 June
11 June
18 June	"Doctorin' the Tardis"	The Timelords	1
25 June	"I Owe You Nothing"	Bros	2
2 July
9 July	"Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You"	Glenn Medeiros	4
16 July
23 July
30 July
6 August	"The Only Way Is Up"	Yazz and the Plastic Population	5
13 August
20 August
27 August
3 September
10 September	"A Groovy Kind of Love"	Phil Collins	2
17 September
24 September	"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"	The Hollies	2
1 October
8 October	"Desire"	U2	1
15 October	"One Moment in Time"	Whitney Houston	2
22 October
29 October	"Orinoco Flow (Sail Away)"	Enya	3
5 November
12 November
19 November	"First Time"	Robin Beck	3
26 November
3 December
10 December	"Mistletoe and Wine"	Cliff Richard	4
17 December
24 December
31 December

Chart date (week ending)	Album	Artist
2 January	Now 10	Various Artists
9 January
16 January	Popped In Souled Out	Wet Wet Wet
23 January	Turn Back the Clock	Johnny Hates Jazz
30 January	Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby	Terence Trent D'Arby
6 February
13 February
20 February
27 February
5 March
12 March
19 March
26 March	Viva Hate	Morrissey
2 April	Now 11	Various Artists
9 April
16 April
23 April	Seventh Son of a Seventh Son	Iron Maiden
30 April	The Innocents	Erasure
7 May	Tango in the Night	Fleetwood Mac
14 May
21 May	Lovesexy	Prince
28 May	Tango in the Night	Fleetwood Mac
4 June	Flite Nite	Various Artists
11 June
18 June
25 June
2 July	Tracy Chapman	Tracy Chapman
9 July
16 July
23 July	Now 12	Various Artists
30 July
6 August
13 August
20 August
27 August	Kylie	Kylie Minogue
3 September
10 September
17 September
24 September	Hot City Nights	Various Artists
1 October	New Jersey	Bon Jovi
8 October
15 October	Flying Colours	Chris de Burgh
22 October	Rattle and Hum	U2
29 October	Money for Nothing	Dire Straits
5 November
12 November
19 November	Kylie	Kylie Minogue
26 November
3 December	Now 13	Various Artists
10 December
17 December
24 December	Private Collection: 1979–1988	Cliff Richard
31 December

^[14]

No.	Title	Artist	Peak position
1	"Mistletoe and Wine"	Cliff Richard	1
2	"The Only Way Is Up"	Yazz and the Plastic Population	1
3	"I Should Be So Lucky"	Kylie Minogue	1
4	"Especially for You"	Kylie Minogue & Jason Donovan	2[a]
5	"I Think We're Alone Now"	Tiffany	1
6	"Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You"	Glenn Medeiros	1
7	"A Groovy Kind of Love"	Phil Collins	1
8	"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"	The Hollies	1
9	"With a Little Help from My Friends"/"She's Leaving Home"	Wet Wet Wet/Billy Bragg with Cara Tivey	1
10	"Teardrops"	Womack & Womack	3
11	"The Loco-Motion"	Kylie Minogue	2
12	"First Time"	Robin Beck	1
13	"Perfect"	Fairground Attraction	1
14	"One Moment in Time"	Whitney Houston	1
15	"Push It"/"Tramp"	Salt-n-Pepa	2
16	"Suddenly"	Angry Anderson	3
17	"Heaven Is a Place on Earth"	Belinda Carlisle	1
18	"Orinoco Flow"	Enya	1
19	"Theme From S-Express"	S-Express	1
20	"Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi"	Kylie Minogue	2
21	"Got to Be Certain"	Kylie Minogue	2
22	"The Harder I Try"	Brother Beyond	2
23	"Tell It to My Heart"	Taylor Dayne	3
24	"Crackers International" (EP)	Erasure	2
25	"I Owe You Nothing"	Bros	1
26	"Heart"	Pet Shop Boys	1
27	"Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car"	Billy Ocean	3
28	"Don't Turn Around"	Aswad	1
29	"Nothing Can Divide Us"	Jason Donovan	5
30	"Beat Dis"	Bomb the Bass	2
31	"Drop the Boy"	Bros	2
32	"Sign Your Name"	Terence Trent D'Arby	2
33	"The Twist (Yo Twist)"	The Fat Boys & Chubby Checker	2
34	"When Will I Be Famous?"	Bros	2
35	"Boys (Summertime Love)"	Sabrina	3
36	"House Arrest"	Krush	3
37	"You Came"	Kim Wilde	3
38	"Lovely Day" (Sunshine Mix)	Bill Withers	4
39	"I Need You"	B.V.S.M.P.	3
40	"Girl You Know It's True"	Milli Vanilli	3
41	"Stand Up for Your Love Rights"	Yazz	2
42	"Cat Among the Pigeons"/"Silent Night"	Bros	2
43	"Don't Worry, Be Happy"	Bobby McFerrin	2
44	"Hands to Heaven"	Breathe	4
45	"Desire"	U2	1
46	"A Little Respect"	Erasure	4
47	"Big Fun"	Inner City	8
48	"Love Changes (Everything)" (remix)	Climie Fisher	2
49	"Together Forever"	Rick Astley	2
50	"Missing You"	Chris de Burgh	3

^[15]

Position	Title	Artist	Peak Position
1	Kylie	Kylie Minogue	1
2	Private Collection: 1979–1988	Cliff Richard	1
3	Bad	Michael Jackson	2[b]
4	Push	Bros	2
5	Now 13	Various Artists	1
6	Popped In Souled Out	Wet Wet Wet	1
7	Tracy Chapman	Tracy Chapman	1
8	Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby	Terence Trent D'Arby	1
9	Tango in the Night	Fleetwood Mac	1
10	Rattle and Hum	U2	1
11	Money for Nothing	Dire Straits	1
12	Now 12	Various Artists	1
13	Now 11		1
14	Dirty Dancing		4
15	Kick	INXS	9
16	The Premiere Collection: The Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber	Various Artists	3[c]
17	Whitney	Whitney Houston	6[d]
18	The Christians	The Christians	2
19	The Greatest Hits Collection	Bananarama	3
20	Heaven on Earth	Belinda Carlisle	4
21	The Innocents	Erasure	1
22	Hearsay	Alexander O'Neal	4
23	Turn Back the Clock	Johnny Hates Jazz	1
24	Introspective	Pet Shop Boys	2
25	Bridge of Spies	T'Pau	2[e]
26	The Best of OMD	Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark	2
27	Greatest Hits	Fleetwood Mac	3
28	Idol Songs: 11 of the Best	Billy Idol	2
29	New Light Through Old Windows	Chris Rea	12
30	The First of a Million Kisses	Fairground Attraction	2
31	The Greatest Love	Various Artists	11
32	The Ultimate Collection	Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music	6
33	Buster Original Soundtrack	Various Artists	6[f]
34	Nite Flite		1
35	Actually	Pet Shop Boys	5[g]
36	Flying Colours	Chris de Burgh	1
37	Faith	George Michael	6[h]
38	Greatest Hits	The Human League	3
39	Whenever You Need Somebody	Rick Astley	2[i]
40	Soft Metal	Various Artists	7
41	Hits 9		5
42	To Whom It May Concern	The Pasadenas	3
43	Watermark	Enya	5
44	Hits 8	Various Artists	2
45	More Dirty Dancing		3
46	Give Me the Reason	Luther Vandross	3
47	Smash Hits Party '88	Various Artists	12
48	Wanted	Yazz	3
49	The Legendary Roy Orbison	Roy Orbison	1
50	Hot City Nights	Various Artists	1

Notes:

• Malcolm Arnold – Robert Kett Overture (Op. 141)
• Geoffrey Burgon – The Trial of Prometheus
• Peter Maxwell Davies
  • Oboe Concerto
  • Trumpet Concerto No. 1 (from the Strathclyde Concertos)
• Stephen Dodgson – Promenade I for two guitars
• Michael Finnissy – Red Earth for orchestra
• Oliver Knussen - Flourish with Fireworks (original version)
• Michael Nyman – String Quartet No. 2
• Philip Sparke – A Swiss Festival Overture
• John Tavener – The Akathist of Thanksgiving

• Mark-Anthony Turnage – Greek

• Michael Nyman - Drowning by Numbers directed by Peter Greenaway.

• It Couldn't Happen Here, starring the Pet Shop Boys
• Testimony: The Story of Shostakovich, starring Ben Kingsley, featuring the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the voices of John Shirley-Quirk and Felicity Palmer^[16]

• 22 October - Sherlock Holmes - The Musical by Leslie Bricusse opens at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter.^[17]

• 24 January – Jade Ewen, singer and actress
• 13 February – Aston Merrygold, singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
• 27 March – Jessie J, singer
• 5 May – Adele, singer-songwriter
• 13 July – Tulisa Contostavlos, singer-songwriter and member of N-Dubz
• 19 July – Charlene Soraia, singer-songwriter
• 25 June – Amanda Marchant and Sam Marchant, singers (Samanda)
• 4 August – Tom Parker, singer, (The Wanted) (died 2022)
• 6 September – Max George, singer, (The Wanted)
• 26 September
  • James Blake, singer-songwriter and producer^[18]
  • Mark Simpson, clarinet player and composer
• 7 October – Lauren Mayberry, Scottish singer-songwriter (Chvrches)
• 2 December – Fuse ODG, Ghanaian-English recording artist
• 15 December – Lady Leshurr, rapper, singer-songwriter and producer
• 21 December
  • Yasmin, singer-songwriter and DJ
  • Alexa Goddard, singer
• 31 December – Holly Holyoake, singer

• 17 January – Harry Jacobs, conductor, 99
• 2 February – Solomon, pianist, 85
• 10 March
  • Andy Gibb, singer, 30 (myocarditis)
  • William Wordsworth, composer, 79
• 25 May – Martin Slavin, composer and music director, 66
• 3 July – George Lloyd, composer, 85
• 9 August – Peggy Cochrane, composer, 86
• 19 August – Sir Frederick Ashton, dancer and choreographer, 83^[19]
• 24 August – Kenneth Leighton, composer, 57 (cancer)
• 11 September – H. Hugh Bancroft, organist and composer, 84^[20]
• 23 September – Arwel Hughes, composer and conductor, 79
• 15 October – Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, composer, music critic, pianist and writer, 96
• 11 November – William Ifor Jones, conductor and organist, 88
• 7 December – John Addison, composer, 78
• 21 December – Paul Jeffreys, bass player (Be-Bop Deluxe and Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel), 36 (air crash)
• 25 December – Denis Matthews, pianist and musicologist, 69

The 1988 BRIT Awards winners were:

• Best British producer: Stock Aitken Waterman
• Best classical recording: Ralph Vaughan Williams – Symphony No. 5
• Best international solo artist: Michael Jackson
• Best Music Video: New Order – "True Faith"
• Best soundtrack: "The Phantom of the Opera"
• British album: Sting – "...Nothing Like the Sun"
• British breakthrough act: Wet Wet Wet
• British female solo artist: Alison Moyet
• British group: Pet Shop Boys
• British male solo artist: George Michael
• British single: Rick Astley – "Never Gonna Give You Up"
• International breakthrough act: Terence Trent D'Arby
• International group: U2
• Outstanding contribution: The Who

• 1988 in British radio
• 1988 in British television
• 1988 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1988

• BBC Radio 1's Chart Show
• The Official Charts Company