In the month and year Britney Spears was born, “Dreamgirls” opened on Broadway, and Wayne “The Great One” Gretzky scored 5 goals in a game against the Flyers, these were the top 10 albums that rocked our world on December 1, 1981.

• 10. Diary Of A Madman - Ozzy Osbourne

  Ozzy’s second album would be the last with guitar god Randy Rhodes. Diary Of A Madman went on to sell over 3 million copies, and it peaked here at #10.

• 9. Don't Say No - Billy Squier

  After unsuccessfully recruiting Queen’s Brian May to produce his second album, Billy Squier hired the band’s engineer, Mack, to work on Don’t Say No. The album made billy a superstar and, on December 1, 1981, it was #9.

• 8. Songs In The Attic - Billy Joel

  Billy Joel’s first live album was recorded during his Glass Houses tour, and even includes a song recorded at the Spectrum! Songs In the Attic is the #8 rock album on our countdown this week, and this track was recorded live at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston. It’s “She’s Got A Way,” originally off of Billy’s debut album Cold Spring Harbor.

• 7. Precious Time - Pat Benatar

  It was great to see Pat Benatar rock out at her Rock And Hall Of Fame Induction a few weeks ago. What a career! Her one and only album to hit the top spot was this, her third album called Precious Time. It dropped to #7 on December 1, 1981.

• 6. Abacab - Genesis

  After ten remarkable studio albums over eleven years, Genesis finally cracked the U.S. Top 10 with Abacab, their eleventh album, and #6 on the Thursday Top 10 Countdown.

• 5. Bella Donna - Stevie Nicks

  Stevie Nicks’ foray into a solo career was an instant success with her debut, Bella Donna. It sold a million copies less than three months after it came out, and spent almost three years on the album chart! On December 1, 1981, after peaking at #1, it drops to #5.

• 4. Escape - Journey

  Journey are one of the few bands to have two albums go “diamond,” or sell more than 10 million copies. One is their greatest hits album, and the other is this one, Escape, the #4 album on this week’s countdown.

• 3. Ghost In The Machine - The Police

  Stewart Copeland stated, half-jokingly, that the reason The Police recorded some of their fourth album on the island of Montserrat was that “it was a 12 hour flight from the nearest record company.” That gave the band the privacy they needed to work on Ghost In The Machine, the #3 rock album on December 1, 1981

• 2. Tattoo You - The Rolling Stones

  By 1981, The Rolling Stones had a bit of an issue. They were about to embark on the world tour, but they needed a new album recorded for the tour to support. The problem was, they weren’t exactly getting on very well at the time, making it difficult to arrange enough studio time, so their producer raided the Stones’ tape vaults and pulled out songs going back as far as a decade, polished them up, added a few overdubs and – BAM! – out came Tattoo You, their last album to hit #1. After doing so, it drops a notch to #2.

• 1. 4 - Foreigner

  Topping the charts this week is the fourth album by this half British, half American band. The album was originally titled Silent Partners, and even had the cover art finished, but the band rejected it and went back to the drawing board.
  Using an old film leader proved the perfect inspiration for both the cover, and the album’s title. The #1 rock album on December 1, 1981 was 4 by Foreigner.

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