If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know that we’ve spent the last few weeks working through the history of the NME Polls, from 1952 to 1992. It’s a long and complicated history, and one that pretty much encapsulates the first forty years of modern popular music in the UK. So as a side-step, it’s worth taking a couple of posts to look at them, award by award.
With such a complex history, it’s hard to trace the winners of a particular category through time, so I’ve taken a few liberties here. Essentially anything that seems to be roughly the same category has been treated as the same thing. Also, for the year ranges, there are a few missing years here and there, so for instance 1967-1970 could mean anything between 2 and 3 wins, but it definitely isn’t 4, as we have no information for the poll results from 1969, or even any meaningful confirmation that the poll took place.
Best and Worst Single, Video and Album Categories
Here are all the winners for specific singles, videos, and albums, including the wonderful “Best Dressed Album” (later “Best Dressed Sleeve”) award.
Best British Disc / Single
- 1959 – Cliff Richard – Living Doll
- 1960 – The Shadows – Apache
- 1961 – John Leyton – Johnny Remember Me
- 1962 – Frank Ifield – I Remember You
- 1963 – The Beatles – She Loves You
- 1964 – The Animals – The House of the Rising Sun
- 1965 – The Rolling Stones – (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
- 1966 – The Beatles – Eleanor Rigby
- 1968 – The Beatles – Hey Jude
- 1971 – Mungo Jerry – In the Summertime
- 1972 – George Harrison – My Sweet Lord
- 1973 – Golden Earring – Radar Love (World) & The Who – 5.15 (British)
- 1975 – Bad Company – Can’t Get Enough
- 1976 – Thin Lizzy – The Boys are Back in Town
- 1977 – Sex Pistols – God Save the Queen
- 1978 – The Clash – (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais
- 1979 – The Specials – Gangsters
- 1980 – The Jam – Going Underground
- 1981 – The Specials – Ghost Town
- 1982 – The Jam – Town Called Malice
- 1983 – New Order – Blue Monday
- 1984 – Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Relax
- 1985 – The Jesus and Mary Chain – Never Understand
- 1986 – The Smiths – Panic
- 1987 – Prince – Sign O The Times
- 1988 – The House of Love – Destroy the Heart
- 1989 – The Stone Roses – Fool’s Gold
- 1990 – The Charlatans – The Only One I Know
- 1991 – Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
- 1992 – Suede – The Drowners
Best Dance Record
- 1982 – Wham! – Young Guns (Go for It)
- 1986 – Cameo – Word Up
- 1987 – M/A/R/R/S – Pump Up the Volume
- 1989 – Happy Mondays – WFL
Worst Record
- 1991 – Bryan Adams – Everything I Do (I Do It for You)
- 1992 – The Shamen – Ebeneezer Goode
Best Music Video
- 1982 – Madness – House of Fun
- 1983 – Michael Jackson – Thriller
- 1984 – Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Two Tribes
- 1985 – Talking Heads – Road to Nowhere
Best Long Player / Album
- 1971 – The Beatles – Let it Be
- 1972 – T. Rex – Electric Warrior & John Lennon – Imagine (tie)
- 1973 – Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon
- 1975 – Rod Stewart – Smiler
- 1976 – Led Zeppelin – The Song Remains the Same
- 1977 – Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks
- 1978 – The Jam – All Mod Cons
- 1979 – The Jam – Setting Sons
- 1980 – The Jam – Sound Affects
- 1981 – Echo and the Bunnymen – Heaven Up Here
- 1982 – The Jam – The Gift
- 1983 – Elvis Costello – Punch the Clock
- 1984 – Cocteau Twins – Treasure
- 1985 – The Smiths – Meat is Murder
- 1986 – The Smiths – The Queen is Dead
- 1987 – The Smiths – Strangeways Here We Come
- 1988 – R.E.M. – Green
- 1989 – The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
- 1990 – Happy Mondays – Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches
- 1991 – Primal Scream – Screamadelica
- 1992 – R.E.M. – Automatic for the People
Best Dressed Album / Sleeve
- 1973 – Yes – Yessongs
- 1975 – Yes – Relayer
- 1976 – Led Zeppelin – The Song Remains the Same
- 1978 – The Rolling Stones – Some Girls
- 1980 – The Jam – Sound Affects
- 1981 – Echo and the Bunnymen – Heaven Up Here
- 1982 – Siouxsie and the Banshees – A Kiss in the Dreamhouse
- 1983 – New Order – Power, Corruption and Lies
- 1984 – Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Welcome to the Pleasuredome
- 1985 – The Pogues – Rum, Sodomy and the Lash
Media Categories
The group of media awards, for radio, TV, films, and venues, are particularly fascinating, since other award ceremonies rarely have anything like this.
Best Disc Jockey
- 1955-1957 – Jack Jackson
- 1958-1959 – Pete Murray
- 1960-1963 – David Jacobs
- 1965-1972 – Jimmy Savile
- 1973 – John Peel
- 1975 – Noel Edmonds
- 1976-1980 – John Peel
Best Music Radio Show
- 1975-1976 – Alan Freeman
- 1977-1992 – John Peel
Best TV Show
- 1965-1972 – Top of the Pops
- 1973-1977 – The Old Grey Whistle Test
- 1978 – Revolver
- 1979 – Fawlty Towers
- 1980 – Not the Nine O’Clock News
- 1981 – Coronation Street
- 1982 – The Young Ones
- 1983-1984 – The Tube
- 1985 – The Old Grey Whistle Test
- 1986 – The Singing Detective
- 1987-1988 – Brookside
- 1989 – Blackadder
- 1990-1991 – Vic Reeves’ Big Night Out
- 1992 – Have I Got News for You
Best Film
- 1978 – Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- 1979 – Quadrophenia
- 1980 – The Elephant Man
- 1981 – Gregory’s Girl
- 1982 – E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
- 1983 – Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
- 1984 – Nineteen Eighty-Four
- 1985 – Letter to Brezhnev
- 1986 – Mona Lisa
- 1987 – Angel Heart
- 1988 – A Fish Called Wanda
- 1989 – Dead Poets’ Society
- 1990 – Wild at Heart
- 1991 – The Silence of the Lambs
- 1992 – Wayne’s World
Best Club / Venue
- 1986 – Town and Country Club
- 1989 – The Haçienda
- 1990-1992 – Town and Country Club
Best Fashion Item
- 1989 – Flares
- 1990-1992 – Dr. Marten Boots
People Categories
In later years, the poll included some odd nominations for people, often outside of the world of music, which provide an interesting window on the past.
Most Wonderful Human Being
- 1976-1977 – Johnny Rotten
- 1978 – Sid Vicious
- 1979 – John Peel
- 1980-1983 – Paul Weller
- 1984 – Arthur Scargill
- 1985 – Bob Geldof
- 1986-1988 – Morrissey
Klutz/Prat/Creep/Bastard of the Year
- 1975 – Steve Harley
- 1977 – Freddie Mercury
- 1978 – John Travolta
- 1979 – Gary Numan
- 1980 – Margaret Thatcher
- 1981 – Adam Ant
- 1982-1989 – Margaret Thatcher
- 1990-1991 – Saddam Hussein
- 1992 – John Major
Best Dressed Male
- 1979 – Gary Numan
- 1980 – Adam Ant
- 1981 – Michael Foot
- 1982 – Paul Weller
- 1983 – David Bowie
- 1984 – Paul Weller
- 1985 – Morrissey
Best Dressed Female
- 1982-1983 – Siouxsie Sioux
Worst Dressed Person
- 1985 – Bob Geldof
Most missed Dead Person
- 1976 – Jimi Hendrix
- 1981 – John Lennon
Political and Real World Categories
These are some of the oddest categories – I’m honestly not sure what the “Hype of the Year” category was all about, but it is interesting to see just what was catching people’s eyes at the time.
Event of the Year
- 1977 – Death of Elvis Presley
- 1980 – Death of John Lennon
- 1982 – The Jam Split
- 1986 – 1986 FIFA World Cup
- 1987 – Nuclear Agreement
- 1988 – Nelson Mandela’s Birthday Bash
- 1989 – Revolution in Eastern Europe
- 1990 – Margaret Thatcher’s Resignation
- 1991 – The release of the hostages
- 1992 – Bill Clinton winning the US election
Pin-Up/Sex SYmbol/Object of Desire
- 1978 – Debbie Harry
- 1986 – Joanne Whalley
- 1988-1989 – Wendy James
- 1990 – Betty Boo
- 1991-1992 – Toni Halliday
Bad News of the Year
- 1987 – Another Conservative Victory at the General Election
- 1988 – US Election Result
Hype of the Year
- 1985 – The Jesus and Mary Chain
- 1989 – Batman
- 1990 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- 1992 – Madonna – Sex
That concludes part one of the summary of NME Poll Winners. Next week, we’ll look at the artist categories.
Music for stowaways 