August - The success of Stars On 45 leads to a short-lived medley craze. The most successful imitator of the Stars On 45 format is, rather unexpectedly, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, whose "Hooked On Classics (Parts 1&2)" reaches number two in the charts.
The tables below include sales between 1 January and 31 December 1981: the year-end charts reproduced in the issue of Music Week dated 26 December 1981 and played on Radio 1 on 3 January 1982 only include sales figures up until 12 December 1981.
^Scaping, Peter, ed. (1982). "The Top 200 Singles: January–December 1981". BPI Year Book 1982 (5th ed.). London, England: The British Phonographic Industry Ltd. pp. 46–49. ISBN0-906154-03-0.
^Jones, Alan; Lazell, Barry; Rees, Dafydd (1982). "The Top 200 Singles (UK)". Chart File 1982. London, England: Virgin Books. pp. 74–77. ISBN0-907080-49-9.
^Scaping (1982). "The Top 200 LPs: January–December 1981". pp. 50–53.
^Jones; Lazell; Rees (1982). "The Top 200 Albums (UK)". pp. 78–81.
^Tilbury, John. Cornelius Cardew: A Life Unfinished Harlow: Copula, an imprint of Matchless Recordings and Publishing, 2008. ISBN978-0-9525492-3-9
^Bierley, Paul E; Rehrig, William H (1991). The heritage encyclopedia of band music : composers and their music. Westerville, Ohio: Integrity Press. ISBN0-918048-08-7.