1980 in British music McLean's cover of Roy Orbison's "Crying". The Ska and Mod revivals reached their peak this year, with strong chart showings by The Jam, The Specials and Madness. 1970s favourites ABBA and Blondie both had their last years as chart heavyweights, clocking up 5 No.1 singles between them. David Bowie scored his second No.1 this year, while the death of John Lennon at the end of the year gave him his first chart topper (and would dominate the early months of 1981). Kate Bush became the first British female artist to have a No.1 album, and The Police finished the year
Next Level (Ayumi Hamasaki album) Express contrasted the album's "hope[ful]" appeal to her previous records, which all dealt with "loneliness". This was particularly commended by Hiraga, who felt it was a lot more "encouraging" than anything she had done before. Commercially, the album was a success in Asia. "Next Level" debuted at number one on the daily and weekly Oricon Albums Chart in Japan, opening with 240,810 copies. This became Hamasaki's ninth number one studio album, and also became the highest first-week sales for a solo female artist that year. It descended to number two on the weekly chart for a second run, shifting 50,271