Apologies for turning up to this party several days late.
Firstly
TheThorne, a magnificent achievement to be able to pull together a Top 100 for 1980, and write such interesting summaries. I think I'm older than you - I was already buying albums with my pocket money by 1980 - and yet I could really only compile a meaningful Top 40.
You have a more rock ear than I do, and I was very much a synth pop fan then (and now). Some of the differences between your favourites and mine reflect that.
Anyway, here's my Top 30, with your placements in brackets.
1 [11] David Bowie -- Scary Monsters
2 [3] Roxy Music -- Flesh & Blood
3 [79] Stevie Wonder -- Hotter Than July
4 [21] Ultravox -- Vienna
5 [5] Talking Heads -- Remain In Light
6 [19] Abba -- Super Trouper
7 [2] Bruce Springsteen -- The River
8 [41] Dire Straits -- Making Movies
9 [55] Phil Lynott -- Solo In Soho
10 [7] Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark -- Organisation
11 [25] Peter Gabriel -- 3
12 [****] Silicon Teens -- Music For Parties
13 [13] Blondie -- Autoamerican
14 [****] Kurtis Blow -- Kurtis Blow
15 [****] Detroit Spinners -- Dancin' And Lovin'
16 [14] Teardrop Explodes -- Kilimanjaro
17 [1] Police -- Zenyatta Mondatta
18 [32] Genesis -- Duke
19 [****] Barbra Streisand -- Guilty
20 [81] Buggles -- The Age Of Plastic
21 [****] Al Stewart -- 24 Carrots
22 [39] Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark -- Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
23 [61] Prince -- Dirty Mind
24 [6] Cure -- Seventeen Seconds
25 [78] New Musik -- From A To B
26 [18] Pretenders -- Pretenders
27 [****] Human League -- Travelogue
28 [****] Tourists -- Luminous Basement
29 [24] Simple Minds -- Empires And Dance
30 [67] Hazel O'Connor -- Breaking Glass
I didn't include Visage (1981) or London Calling (1979's top LP) because I don't view them as 1980 releases. But it's your list, and I'm not looking to debate either point.
A few comments:-
Scary Monsters is my favourite Bowie LP, even ahead of the early 70s classics. It is experimental and fun, and doesn't have any tracks below 8/10.
Although Songs In The Key Of Life is rightly lauded as Stevie Wonders' best album, Hotter Than July is easily his best pop release, and is loaded with catchy hits.
Vienna is a brooding masterpiece.
Solo In Soho was a big surprise to me when I first borrowed it from a library. Much more accessible than Lizzy's albums, and a black conscience piece that I found instantly accessible. I bought it the next day.
Silicon Teens - Music For Parties. This is a hilarious collection of revved-up rock'n'roll songs played on primitive synths by Daniel Miller of Mute Records. You can't do anything but grin enormously while listening to it.
Kurtis Blow's debut album was the first really good rap LP. I'd put it way ahead of anything the Sugarhill Gang or Grandmasters Flash and Melle Mel ever assembled.
Detroit Spinners - Dancin' And Lovin' is the last really good disco LP. Yes, it already sounded dated by 1980. But it is a non-stop party.
Barbra Streisand - Guilty. She may be MOR, but the Bee Gees channelled all of their songwriting brilliance in her direction in 1980, given the abhorrent disco sucks movement in racist America. There are a handful of superb songs on the record.
Al Stewart - 24 Carrots. Yes, he's a niche singer-songwriter, and I'm probably the only person at Haven who likes him. Merlin's Time, Running Man and Mondo Sinistro are strong folk meets prog tracks.
Human League - Travelogue. Has plenty of filler, but Being Boiled and Toyota City are the highlights of Oakey/Ware League.
Tourists - Luminous Basement. A hit-free missing link between So Good To Be Back Here Again and Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This).