Brothers in arms only? Not ONE female artist makes the list in Radio 2’s top ten albums of the Eighties with U2's Joshua Tree taking the top spot

It was an era of stadium-filling rock stars with big choruses and even bigger egos.

But while many of the most popular albums of the 1980s were undoubtedly made by men, you might expect to see at least some female singers in the top ten.

Instead, a poll of BBC Radio 2 listeners left them out entirely – with not even Kate Bush or Whitney Houston making the cut.

U2’s Joshua Tree took the top spot in the Sounds of the 80s survey in the BBC2 Radio poll

U2’s Joshua Tree took the top spot in the Sounds of the 80s survey. It was followed by Dire Straits’ Brothers In Arms and the Stone Roses’ eponymous debut. 

The only album by a woman to make it into the top 20 was Kate Bush’s Hounds Of Love at number 11. Whitney Houston’s self-titled album missed out, despite being the sixth best-selling of the decade – as was Madonna’s third studio album, True Blue.

The winner, Joshua Tree, was the ninth best-selling of the decade. It included the Irish group’s only US hit singles: With Or Without You and I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For. 

U2 guitarist The Edge said: ‘It was written in the mid-80s, a period when there was a lot of unrest.’

Other male artists to make the top ten included Michael Jackson, whose Thriller album was fourth, followed by Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite For Destruction.

In the poll, listeners picked their favourites from a list of 50 of the decade’s best-selling and most iconic albums.

How the listeners voted in the BBC Radio 2 poll

U2 The Joshua Tree

Dire Straits Brothers In Arms

The Stone Roses The Stone Roses

Michael Jackson Thriller

Guns 'N’Roses Appetite For Destruction

The Human League Dare

The Smiths The Queen Is Dead

Paul Simon Graceland

ABC Lexicon Of Love

Prince Purple Rain