The Only Fun In Town
by Josef K

The Only Fun In Town by Josef K
Year: 1981
Overall rank: 9,905th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
72/100 (from 51 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1981 (154th)
Award Top albums of the 1980s (1,380th)
Award Best albums of all time (9,905th)

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Josef K bestography

The Only Fun In Town is ranked as the best album by Josef K.

Josef K album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (9,905th)
The Only Fun In Town
Lower ranked (46,648th) »
Young And Stupid

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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The Only Fun In Town track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 78 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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The Only Fun In Town rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 9,905th | 1980s rank: 1,380th | 1981 rank: 154th
Filter Filter
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 videoheadcleanerTop 100 Music Albums of 198171/1002
2026LittleM1971Greatest Music Albums: 401-50036/100 -
2026 HaydenTop 100 Music Albums of 198112/1004
2026 imacgillTop 100 Music Albums of 198181/1001
2026LittleM1971Top 89 Music Albums of 19819/895
2025 O.T.Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s61/100 -
2025 paTop 36 Music Albums of 19816/364
2025 Norman BatesTop 100 Music Albums of 198116/1004
2025 Norman BatesTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s95/100 -
2025 cestuneblagueTop 100 Music Albums of 198148/1003
2025 LadyGodivaTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s68/100 -
2025OFarrioTop 22 Music Albums of 19815/224
2025 LadyGodivaTop 50 Music Albums of 19818/504
2024 Jimmy DreadTop 99 Music Albums of the 1980s83/99 -
2024 meccaleccaTop 80 Music Albums of 198173/801
2024JamesMowbrayTop 100 Music Albums of 198137/1003
2023 ssteveTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s100/100 -
2023cronadigallinaTop 100 Music Albums of 198150/1003
2023OFarrioTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s49/100 -
2023Stevo796Top 14 Music Albums of 198112/141
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 53
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 85
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

The Only Fun In Town collection

The Only Fun In Town ratings

Average Rating: 
72/100 (from 51 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 51 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
60/100
 
08/14/2025 03:39 MadhattanJack  Ratings distribution  5,82466/100
 
75/100
 
08/08/2024 10:54 JamesMowbray  Ratings distribution  5,43869/100
 
60/100
 
11/07/2023 16:23 Stevo796  Ratings distribution  1,14173/100
 
35/100
 
03/18/2023 09:34 Igtonumama  Ratings distribution  10,78963/100
 
70/100
 
01/05/2023 03:20 Moondance  Ratings distribution  20,39072/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album has a Bayesian average rating of 72.1/100, a mean average of 72.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 72.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.4.

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The Only Fun In Town favourites

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The Only Fun In Town comments

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Rating:  
65/100
From 03/29/2021 10:34 | #267911
They certainly had a unique and highly influential guitar sound, (the Wedding Present for example owe them a huge debt), but it's not exactly jangly, its a bit more angular and post-punk like Gang of Four. And on a few songs at a time, this is utterly thrilling, but over the course of an entire album it gets a bit tiresome. Paul Haig's vocals are excellent and it would be good if they had been a bit higher in the mix on this album. (They are on the slightly more poppy alternate production version, which wasn't released until years later). But neither version of the album really captures the energy of the singles. While 'Sorry for Laughing' and 'It's Kinda Funny' are their classic songs, check out the single versions on the compilation 'Young and Stupid' instead of these versions.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 09/30/2019 15:54 | #243242
I just got into Josef K and I love the energy on this album! It's a ton of fun. Also, as with so many post punk bands of this era, there's some really cool bass work on this thing.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 05/04/2012 05:57 | #41474
I love the cover artwork. I love the jangly guitars. I love Postcard Records.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1981
1. Moving Pictures by Rush
2. Computerwelt by Kraftwerk
3. Discipline by King Crimson
4. Juju by Siouxsie And The Banshees
5. Time by Electric Light Orchestra
6. My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts by Brian Eno & David Byrne
7. Faith by The Cure
8. Dare by The Human League
9. Damaged by Black Flag
10. Heaven Up Here by Echo & The Bunnymen
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12. Deceit by This Heat
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19. Movement by New Order
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