We’re past Christmas, but we only have a couple of new releases for 2026. What can fill the gap? Well, there’s the season finale of Stranger Things.

Welcome to 1980s week.

1. Djo – “End of Beginning” 

This isn’t from the soundtrack of Stranger Things, but it is by one of the cast. It kind of counts as back catalogue itself, though, because it was already a hit last year, and got to number 4 then. He hasn’t had any other top 40 hits, so for now he goes onto the list of pure one-hit wonders. “End of Beginning” has a 5% lead over Taylor Swift at number 2, though again there’s an asterisk: if it wasn’t on ACR, Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” would be number 1 by a comfortable margin.

There are six back catalogue entries this week, thanks to Stranger Things, and they join the Kate Bush and Tiffany tracks from last week. It’s like early December, but with Now That’s What I Call 80s instead of with Christmas songs. One difference is that, because they’re not Christmas songs, these tracks are eligible for an ACR reset – they come off downweighting if they have a big enough week-on-week climb, so they’re on an equal footing with new releases.

12. Prince & The Revolution – “Purple Rain”

Oddly, the only official video available for this seems to be the placeholder graphic above. “Purple Rain” reached number 8 on release in 1984, but its all time peak was number 6 following Prince’s death in 2016.

17. The Police – “Every Breath You Take” 

Number 1 for four weeks in 1983, this was the lead single from their final album. It’s supposed to be mildly sinister, but gets widely misread as a straightforward love song. Puff Daddy rather missed the point in sampling it.

20. Fleetwood Mac – “Landslide” 

This was a track from their self-titled 1975 album, and so it makes its first appearance in the singles chart. It becomes Fleetwood Mac’s 19th top 40 hit; the last one was “Everywhere”, which got to number 4 back in 1987.

22. James Marriott – “California Rain” 

It’s not all Stranger Things! James Marriott had a number 1 album last year with his second album “Don’t Tell The Dog”, but this is his first appearance on the singles chart. It’s substantially boosted by fanbase sales of physical copies which registered at the start of the chart week and won’t be sustained – but it would have made the top 40 on streaming alone. It’s a bit of an anomaly in the current singles chart, though I guess Benson Boone isn’t miles off.

24. Katseye – “Internet Girl” 

Brought to you in association with the Zucchini Marketing Board.

Katseye are the product of a collaboration between Hybe and Geffen to internationalise the K-pop girl group model, and they had their first UK hit last year when the relatively normal “Gabriela” reached the dizzy heights of number 38. This is obviously a step up for them. The record is… uh… well, play it and you’ll see. This track seems to be remarkably divisive among their fanbase, some of whom just think it’s a terrible song, and others of whom think it’s an overproduced mess compared to the live version.

It’s catchy, to be sure, but it’s also a shameless bid for viral territory that borders on outright trolling. They must know the emoji is an aubergine, right? They must know that some of the lyrics sound like they’ve been in a drafts folder since Al Gore? Much depends on whether you think this is knowing irony or just a spectacular trainwreck.

Right, back to Stranger Things.

26. Diana Ross – “Upside Down” 

This was number 2 for two weeks in 1980 – it was kept off number 1 by Abba’s “The Winner Takes It All”, which seems fair enough. She did have two other UK number 1s: “I’m Still Waiting” (1971) and “Chain Reaction” (1986). She was still having hits into the 1990s, although regrettably her final chart hit was a guest appearance on a Westlife track in 2005.

The record sleeve which the Official Charts website has chosen to illustrate this track is the compilation album “Smooth FM presents Music For Mum 2016”.

34. David Bowie – “Heroes” 

This reached number 24 on release in 1977, but its all time peak was number 12 on his death in 2016.

37. Sienna Spiro – “You Stole the Show” 

This came out last October and has been floating around the lower reaches ever since, but finally makes the top 40 on the back of “Die on This Hill” making the top 10. That track is at number 11 this week. It’s not an obvious single, but nice to have here.

40. The Clash – “Should I Stay or Should I Go”

“Should I stay or should I go now? / If I go there will be trouble / And if I stay it will be double.” Well, go then. There’ll be half as much trouble. Not sure what the dilemma is here, really.

This track reached number 17 on release in 1982 (as a double A-side with “Straight to Hell”), but it was a number 1 on re-release in 1991 after being used in a Levi’s advert.

This week’s climbers:

• “End of Beginning” by Djo climbs to number 1, obviously.
• “Lush Life” by Zara Larrson climbs 9-8.
• “I Run” by HAVEN. featuring Kaitlin Aragon climbs 10-9.
• “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush climbs 16-14.
• “I Think We’re Alone Now” by Tiffany climbs 29-27.
• “Stateside” by PinkPantheress climbs 40-35

The nine tracks leaving the chart this week are:

• “Last Christmas” by Wham!, which had two weeks at number 1.
• “XMAS” by Kylie Minogue, the 2025 Christmas Number One.
• “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey, which peaked at number 2 in 2025, as if did in the two preceding years.
• “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee, which reached a new all-time peak of number 3 this year.
• “Turn the Lights Off” by Kato featuring Jon after a single week at 33.
• “Manchild” by Sabrina Carpenter, which was a re-entry at 36 last week.
• “Such a Funny Way” by Sabrina Carpenter, after a single week at number 37
• “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan, which was a re-entry at 38 last week.
• “People Watching” by Sam Fender, which was a re-entry at 39 last week.

On the album chart, “The Art of Loving” by Olivia Dean remains at number 1, for a fourth non-consecutive week. Once again, there are no new entries.