Following on from this earlier piece (“Stuck at 3, the 1970s”) here is a list of all the artists that made it to #3 in the UK, but no higher, during the 1980s. These are releases that entered the chart between January 1980 and December 1989. Unlike my “Stuck at 2” lists (which you can find on the Trivia Menu, here) this list does not include artists who had songs that made it to #1 or #2. It only contains songs by artists who were “Stuck at 3”.
| Artist | Title | Date |
| Marti Webb | Take That Look Off Your Face | Feb-80 |
| Vapors | Turning Japanese | Feb-80 |
| Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway [See note below] | Back Together Again | May-80 |
| Stacy Lattisaw | Jump To The Beat | Jun-80 |
| Sheena Easton | 9 To 5 | Jul-80 |
| Bad Manners | Special Brew | Aug-80 |
| Dennis Waterman with The Dennis Waterman Band | I Could Be So Good For You | Oct-80 |
| Jona Lewie | Stop The Cavalry | Nov-80 |
| Rainbow | I Surrender | Jan-81 |
| Tony Capstick | The Sheffield Grinder / Capstick Comes Home | Mar-81 |
| Bad Manners | Can Can | Jun-81 |
| Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark | Souvenir | Aug-81 |
| Godley & Creme [See note below] | Under Your Thumb | Sep-81 |
| Earth Wind & Fire | Let’s Groove | Nov-81 |
| Haircut 100 | Love Plus One | Jan-82 |
| J Geils Band | Centerfold | Feb-82 |
| PhD | I Won’t Let You Down | Apr-82 |
| Pigbag | Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag | Apr-82 |
| Kids From Fame | Starmaker | Oct-82 |
| David Bowie & Bing Crosby [See note below] | Peace On Earth – Little Drummer Boy | Nov-82 |
| Wah | The Story Of The Blues | Dec-82 |
| Belle Stars | Sign Of The Times | Jan-83 |
| Toto | Africa | Feb-83 |
| Jo Boxers | Boxer Beat | Feb-83 |
| Beat | Can’t Get Used To Losing You | Apr-83 |
| Malcolm McLaren & The Bootzilla Orchestra | Double Dutch | Jul-83 |
| Style Council | Long Hot Summer / Paris Match | Aug-83 |
| Siouxsie & The Banshees | Dear Prudence | Oct-83 |
| Joe Fagin | That’s Livin’ Alright | Jan-84 |
| Break Machine | Street Dance | Feb-84 |
| Bananarama | Robert De Niro’s Waiting | Mar-84 |
| Bronski Beat | Smalltown Boy | Jun-84 |
| Tina Turner | What’s Love Got To Do With It | Jun-84 |
| Giorgio Moroder & Phil Oakey [See note below] | Together In Electric Dreams | Sep-84 |
| Paul McCartney & The Frog Chorus [See note below] | We All Stand Together | Nov-84 |
| Ashford & Simpson | Solid | Jan-85 |
| Sarah Brightman & Paul Miles-Kingston [See note below] | Pie Jesu | Mar-85 |
| Bronski Beat with Marc Almond [See note below] | I Feel Love (medley) | Apr-85 |
| Tina Turner | We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome) | Jul-85 |
| Baltimora | Tarzan Boy | Aug-85 |
| Colonel Abrams | Trapped | Aug-85 |
| Red Box | Lean On Me (Ah-Li-Ayo) | Aug-85 |
| Dee C Lee | See The Day | Nov-85 |
| Bronski Beat | Hit That Perfect Beat | Nov-85 |
| Damned | Eloise | Feb-86 |
| Sigue Sigue Sputnik | Love Missile F1-11 | Mar-86 |
| Samantha Fox | Touch Me (I Want Your Body) | Mar-86 |
| Level 42 | Lessons In Love | Apr-86 |
| Sly Fox | Let’s Go All The Way | May-86 |
| Owen Paul | My Favourite Waste Of Time | May-86 |
| Peter Cetera [See note below] | Glory Of Love | Aug-86 |
| Cameo | Word Up | Aug-86 |
| Cliff Richard & Sarah Brightman with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by David Caddick [See note below] | All I Ask Of You | Oct-86 |
| Curiosity Killed The Cat | Down To Earth | Dec-86 |
| Robbie Nevil | C’est La Vie | Dec-86 |
| Mental As Anything | Live It Up | Feb-87 |
| Club Nouveau | Lean On Me | Mar-87 |
| Heart | Alone | Jun-87 |
| Atlantic Starr | Always | Jun-87 |
| Bananarama | Love In The First Degree / Mr Sleaze | Oct-87 |
| Stock Aitken Waterman [See note below] | Mr Sleaze | Oct-87 |
| Proclaimers [See note below] | Letter From America | Nov-87 |
| Krush | House Arrest | Dec-87 |
| Mel & Kim [See note below] | Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree | Dec-87 |
| Taylor Dayne | Tell It To My Heart | Jan-88 |
| Vanessa Paradis | Joe Le Taxi | Feb-88 |
| Danny Wilson | Mary’s Prayer | Apr-88 |
| Aztec Camera | Somewhere In My Heart | Apr-88 |
| New Order | Blue Monday (remix) | May-88 |
| Liverpool FC | Anfield Rap (Red Machine In Full Effect) | May-88 |
| Sabrina | Boys (Summertime Love) | Jun-88 |
| Everything But The Girl | I Don’t Want To Talk About It | Jul-88 |
| BVSMP | I Need You | Jul-88 |
| Womack & Womack | Teardrops | Aug-88 |
| D Mob | We Call It Acieed | Oct-88 |
| Angry Anderson | Suddenly | Nov-88 |
| Neneh Cherry [See note below] | Buffalo Stance | Dec-88 |
| Bananarama / La Na Nee Nee Noo Noo | Help | Feb-89 |
| Transvision Vamp | Baby I Don’t Care | Apr-89 |
| Lynne Hamilton | On The Inside | Apr-89 |
| Cliff Richard | I Just Don’t Have The Heart | Aug-89 |
| Sydney Youngblood | If Only I Could | Aug-89 |
| Rebel MC & Double | Street Tuff | Oct-89 |
| Jeff Wayne’s War Of The Worlds | The Eve Of War (remix) | Nov-89 |
| 49ers | Touch Me | Dec-89 |
Notes
Roberta Flack had a #2 in 1983 with Peabo Bryson, Tonight I Celebrate My Love
Godley & Crème had #1 hits as part of 10cc, and a #2 hit as part of Hotlegs
David Bowie had multiple #1s, Bing Crosby’s top chart position from Nov 1952 onwards was #3, Isle of Inisfree
Giorgio Moroder’s top chart placing as a credited artist was #3, same for Phil Oakey; Moroder had #1s as a producer, Oakey as singer in Human League
The Frog Chorus only had one chart credit; but Paul McCartney has had many #1s, solo, in a duo, and so on
Sarah Brightman had a #2 with Andrea Bocelli in 1997 with Time To Say Goodbye (Con Te Partiro)
Mark Almond reached #1 as a solo artist, and as part of Soft Cell
Peter Cetera reached #1 as singer in Chicago
Cliff Richard has had several #1s and Sarah Brightman reached #2 in 1997 with Andrea Bocelli
Stock Aitken Waterman reached #1 in 1989 with Ferry Cross the Mersey, billed as: Christians, Holly Johnson, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden & Stock Aitken Waterman
Proclaimers reached #1 in 2007 as Proclaimers featuring Brian Potter & Andy Pipkin
This Mel & Kim listed here is different from the duo that reached #1 earlier that year; this is a comic duo of Mel Smith & Kim Wilde; as a solo artist Kim Wilde reached #2, twice
Neneh Cherry also reached #3 with Youssou N’Dour in 1994, and reached #1 in 1995 as part of Cher, Chrissie Hynde & Neneh Cherry with Eric Clapton
The Compartments 