Having already made a unique sample-based production sound evident on such albums as Yes’ 90125, Art Of Noise releases its first album, (Who’s Afraid Of?) The Art Of Noise, on ZTT Records. The single “Close (To The Edit)”, accompanied by a manic, surreal music video, becomes an immediate hit. At this time, the “band” consists of Anne Dudley, Trevor Horn, J.J. Jeczalik and Gary Langan. 
EMI Records releases the self-titled album Keats, written and performed by members of the Alan Parsons Project; Parsons produces.
Warner Bros. Records releases Lindsey Buckingham‘s second solo album, Go Insane, featuring the single of the same name.
Epic Records releases the Kansas compilation album The Best Of Kansas, featuring the highlights of the band’s first two lineups (though at the time of release, the band has broken up, only to reform a few years later).
CBS Records releases Wendy Carlos‘ instrumental album Digital Moonscapes. Performed entirely on synthesizers (credited on the album to the “LSI Philharmonic Orchestra”), the album includes one track (“Io”) which was originally composed for, and dropped from, a scene in the movie Tron (for which Carlos also composed the soundtrack).
Scotti Bros. Records releases the Dave Edmunds album Riff Raff, again pairing Edmunds with producer Jeff Lynne of ELO fame. The album includes the singles “Breaking Out” and “S.O.S.”
Atlantic Records releases Julian Lennon‘s debut album, Valotte, featuring the singles “Too Late For Goodbyes” and “Valotte”.
Mute Records releases the Depeche Mode album Some Great Reward, featuring the single “People Are People”, which becomes the group’s signature song for years to come.
The ninth and final studio album from Split Enz, See Ya Round, is released. Originally slated to be a farewell EP by the remaining band members following the departure of Tim Finn (and new drummer recruit Paul Hester), it blossoms into a full-length album thanks to new original material by Hester, bassist Nigel Griggs, and a jam or two between all the band members. Though Split Enz embarks on a lengthy farewell tour (and releases a double album of some of the best performances from that tour), this remains the group’s final studio album.
Polygram Records releases the album The History Mix, Volume I by former 10cc members Godley & Creme. Accompanied by a video that anticipates the “morphing” digital effects of the 1990s, the album’s single is “Cry”, though most of the album heavily remixes of the duo’s past work with 10cc.
The Alan Parsons Project releases its eighth album, Vulture Culture, including the single “Let’s Talk About Me”.
Mute Records releases the non-album single Shake the Disease by Depeche Mode.
Scotti Bros. Records releases the third album by Weird Al Yankovic, Dares To Be Stupid. The album features the singles “Like A Surgeon” and “I Want A New Duck”.
A&M Records releases the first solo album by Sting, The Dream of the Blue Turtles. The album features the singles “If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free” and “Fortress Around Your Heart”.
IRS Records releases R.E.M.‘s third album, Fables of the Reconstruction, featuring the singles “Driver 8” and “Can’t Get There From Here”.
Sire Records releases the Talking Heads album Little Creatures, featuring the singles “And She Was”, “Road To Nowhere” and “Perfect World”.
MCA Records releases the Steely Dan compilation album A Decade Of Steely Dan, which becomes a fast favorite in the relatively new compact disc format.
Warner Bros. Records releases the Todd Rundgren album A Capella, an album whose “instruments” are all samples of Rundgren’s own voice.
The Alan Parsons Project releases its ninth album, Stereotomy, including the single “Limelight”.
Electric Light Orchestra‘s eleventh album, Balance Of Power, is released, featuring the single “Calling America”. This is the final release by ELO before Jeff Lynne officially disbands the group, as well as the final album containing anything remotely resembling the lineup of ELO’s ’70s heyday. Drummer Bev Bevan later recuits new musicians and other former ELO members to form ELO Part II.
Mute Records releases the fifth Depeche Mode album, Black Celebration, featuring the single “Stripped”.
I.R.S. Records releases the debut album by the British group Fine Young Cannibals, led by singer/actor Roland Gift. The single “Johnny Come Home” is featured, as well as a cover of Elvis’ “Suspicious Minds.”
Reprise Records releases Street Life: 20 Great Hits, a compilation album of highlights from the careers of Roxy Music and solo work by its lead singer, Bryan Ferry.
Art Of Noise, now signed to Chrysalis Records, releases its second album, In Visible Silence. Band members Anne Dudley, J.J. Jeczalik and Gary Langan, having split with founding members Paul Morley and Trevor Horn, continue the group’s sample-heavy sound with a more popular direction, including collaborations with Duane Eddy (on a well-known cover of his 1959 TV theme “Peter Gunn”) and, bizarrely but appropriately, Max Headroom (a.k.a. actor Matt Frewer). The popular instrumental “Legs” also comes from this album.
Australian-based Crowded House – formed by ex-Split Enz members Neil Finn and Paul Hester, with new bassist Nick Seymour – releases its self-titled first album worldwide. Early attempts to push the album internationally fall flat, until the single “Don’t Dream It’s Over” climbs the American radio charts, landing at #2 for a single week thanks to relentless promotion and small-venue touring.
Peter Gabriel releases the solo album So through Geffen Records, including the hit singles “”Big Time”, “Sledgehammer” and “In Your Eyes”.
Hollywood Records releases the Queen album A Kind Of Magic. With no release of the movie’s score in the works, this album – featuring “Who Wants To Live Forever” and “Princes Of The Universe” – is the de facto soundtrack of the movie Highlander.
Mute Records releases the 13th Genesis album, Invisible Touch, featuring the single “Land Of Confusion”.
Threshold Records releases the Moody Blues album The Other Side Of Life, featuring the single “Your Wildest Dreams”.
Virgin Records releases the second album by former Split Enz lead singer Tim Finn, Big Canoe. With contributions from fellow ex-Enz bandmate Phil Judd, the album is elaborately produced, but fails to make a splash (at roughly the same time that Finn’s younger brother, Neil, is climbing the charts with Crowded House).