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| UK Number One singles by Jamaican artists |
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 25th May 2015, 05:21 PM
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#1
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 BuzzJack Gold Member
Joined: 14 July 2008
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With Omi still reigning supreme as the biggest selling single in the UK, here is a list of the Jamaican artists who have had a UK Number One.
w/e 11 Nov 67 - Foundations, "Now That I've Found You". Two British-based Jamaicans, Pat Burke & Mike Elliot, became the first people from the island to make the UK number one spot. w/e 06 Jul 68 - Equals, "Baby Come Back". Best known for being the original group of Eddy Grant, Jamaican brothers Derv & Lincoln Gordon were also members w/e 19 Apr 69 - Desmond Dekker & The Aces, "The Israelites". One of the geniune reggae classics, it had a second bite of the cherry when it was re-released in 1975. Dekker had two other top 10 singles w/e 01 May 71 - Dave & Ansel Collins, "Double Barrel". This was Dave & Ansel's debut single. One of the backing musicians was Sly Dunbar, later to become part of Sly & Robbie (of whom more later) w/e 21 Sep 74 - Carl Douglas - "Kung Fu Fighting". Kung Fu was a big craze for a while in the mid 70s, popularised by the TV series starring David Carradine. Douglas had a transatlantic chart topper with this, and also took it back in to the Top 10 24 years later alongside Bus Stop w/e 26 Oct 74 - Ken Boothe, "Everything I Own". Only six weeks after "Kung Fu Fighting", Jamaica was back at number one.Written by David Gates of Bread, the original version was a US Top 5 hit before Boothe took it to number one here, as did Boy George 20-odd years later w/e 04 Feb 78 - Althia & Donna, "Up Town Top Ranking". Female duo Althea Forrest (her first name was mis-spelt on the record and hence the charts at the time) and Donna Reid became the first (and still only) Jamaican females to top the UK singles chart w/e 23 Aug 86 - Boris Gardiner - "I Wanna Wake Up With You". Nearly robbed of a hit in 1970 when his "Elizabethan Reggae" was credited to Byron Lee, Boris returned 16 years later as a saccharine balladeer. It was the only Jamaican UK chart topper of the 1980s w/e 20 Mar 93 - Shaggy, "Oh Carolina" w/e 25 Sep 95 - Shaggy, "Boombastic" w/e 10 Mar 01 - Shaggy featuring Rikrok, "It Wasn't Me" w/e 09 Jun 01 - Shaggy featuring Rayvon" - "Angel". Four number ones mean he has had more than any other artist on this list. "It Wasn't Me" is also the only track listed here to sell a million copies (excluding Boney M, see below). He hasn't bothered the Top 75 since 2005 w/e 08 Jan 94 - Chaka Demus & Pliers featuring Jack Radics & Taxi Gang, "Twist And Shout". Chaka & Pliers had two top 5 hits before enlisting the help of Jack Radics and Taxi Gang (who were Sly & Robbie plus some session musicians) to cover the 60s staple. Brian Poole & The Tremeloes had previously had the biggest hit with the song, but the best known version was that of The Beatles from the "Please Please Me" album. This version was the UK's 700th UK Number 1. w/e 09 Aug 03 - Sean Paul, "Breathe" (Blu Cantrell featuring Sean Paul) w/e 30 Mar 13 - Sean Paul, "What About Us" (Saturdays featuring Sean Paul). Over 20 hits and 2 number ones for Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques. A fair proportion of his hits, and both of his chart-toppers (nearly 10 years apart), came as a featured vocalist on other people's records. w/e 08 Sep 07 - Sean Kingston, "Beautiful Girls". Another UK & US number one by Kingston, who was born in Miami but moved to Jamaica aged 6. He took 3 years to get a second Top 10, and after a third Top 10 in 2011 he has faded away. w/e 09 May 15 - Omi, "Cheerleader" - The current UK number one that took an age creeping up the charts, but has now racked up 4 weeks at the top. Note - Two of Boney M (Marcia Barrett and Liz Mitchell) were born in Jamaica but moved to the UK at a young age and are often considered as British. For the record though w/e 13 May 78 - Boney M, "Rivers Of Babylon" w/e 09 Dec 78 - Boney M, "Mary's Boy Child-Oh My Lord" Most of you know the "Rivers Of Babylon" chartrun story by now, rising to number one (and staying there for 5 weeks), dropping naturally to Number 20 before being flipped and "Brown Girl In The Ring" becoming the promoted side and re-bounding all the way back to Number 2. By contrast, their Christmas offering had a far more standard run for a Christmas number one, only 8 weeks in the Top 75 with exactly half of those weeks at number one. Various combinations of all three songs have appeared as part of various medleys and Megamixes since. This post has been edited by fchd: 25th May 2015, 08:54 PM |
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25th May 2015, 05:25 PM
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 is my brain across your walls?
Joined: 14 February 2009
Posts: 115,079 User: 8,300
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I had no idea Carl Douglas was Jamaican - I've never actually seen a picture of him, for some reason I'm surprised he's not white!
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25th May 2015, 05:26 PM
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Infamy Infamy they all got it in for me
Joined: 5 March 2006
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Track title is missing for Chaka Demus, and I can't even remember the title myself
 And did Pato Banton had a cover version with "Baby Come Back"  yep... took it to #1 (1994)
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25th May 2015, 05:33 PM
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 Alone and wounded
Pronouns: She/her
Joined: 18 January 2011 Posts: 60,180 User: 12,810 
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QUOTE(Mart!n @ May 25 2015, 06:26 PM)  Track title is missing for Chaka Demus, and I can't even remember the title myself And did Pato Banton had a cover version with "Baby Come Back" The Chaka Demus track is 'Twist and Shout', although most could be forgiven for presuming it'd be 'Tease Me'. Pato Banton's 'Baby Come Back' was a cover of Eddy Grant/The Equals' song, yes! 
This post has been edited by Jade: 25th May 2015, 05:38 PM |
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25th May 2015, 05:41 PM
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BuzzJack Gold Member
Joined: 14 July 2008
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Title of "Twist And Shout" edited in. Thanks for spotting the omission.
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25th May 2015, 05:44 PM
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BuzzJack Gold Member
Joined: 24 March 2013
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QUOTE(Jade @ May 25 2015, 06:33 PM) The Chaka Demus track is 'Twist and Shout', although most could be forgiven for presuming it'd be 'Tease Me'. Pato Banton's 'Baby Come Back' was a cover of Eddy Grant/The Equals' song, yes! I never heard the Beatles version of 'Tease Me'. Was it any good? I presume Pato Banton isn't on this list because he's from Birmingham. |
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25th May 2015, 08:07 PM
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BuzzJack Enthusiast
Joined: 21 August 2006
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The Hit Parade - Twist And Shout by The Beatles is excellent. It was originally by the Top Notes, in 1961. The Isley Brothers covered it in 1962, & reached
No.17 in the USA & No.42 in the UK. The Beatles did not release it as a UK Single. They released it as a 4 Track EP here, & was No.1 in the UK EP Chart, for 21 Weeks, from 1963 to 1964. It was a No.2 Single in the USA Billboard Charts, & No.1 in the USA Cashbox Charts. The Tremeloes had a UK No.4 Single with it in 1963. The Beatles version was not a UK Hit Single until 2010, when it reached No.48 as a Download. THE BEATLES - TWIST AND SHOUT -- (1963) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9ypq6_5bsg |
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25th May 2015, 08:39 PM
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BuzzJack Climber
Joined: 13 May 2006
Posts: 134 User: 562
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Thanks for this, Fhcd - slight typo under Sean Kingston - should read 2011 instead of 2001.
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25th May 2015, 08:43 PM
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#9
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Buffy/Charmed
Joined: 18 April 2013
Posts: 44,100 User: 18,639
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Rihanna too no?
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25th May 2015, 08:47 PM
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#10
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 4 November 2013
Posts: 30,548 User: 20,053
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QUOTE(#BJSCFLOPPERRRRR @ May 26 2015, 08:43 AM) Rihanna too no? She's Barbadian 
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25th May 2015, 08:55 PM
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BuzzJack Gold Member
Joined: 14 July 2008
Posts: 3,807 User: 6,639
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QUOTE(jaynesangel @ May 25 2015, 09:39 PM) Thanks for this, Fhcd - slight typo under Sean Kingston - should read 2011 instead of 2001. Thanks, corrected. |
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25th May 2015, 09:20 PM
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Buffy/Charmed
Joined: 18 April 2013
Posts: 44,100 User: 18,639
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QUOTE(Dobbo @ May 25 2015, 08:47 PM) She's Barbadian |
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25th May 2015, 09:27 PM
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#13
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new hair, new tee, new Levii’s Jeans
Joined: 24 October 2014
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QUOTE(fchd @ May 25 2015, 10:21 AM) w/e 20 Mar 93 - Shaggy, "Oh Carolina" "I Need Your Love" better smash as well w/e 25 Sep 95 - Shaggy, "Boombastic" w/e 10 Mar 01 - Shaggy featuring Rikrok, "It Wasn't Me" w/e 09 Jun 01 - Shaggy featuring Rayvon" - "Angel". Four number ones mean he has had more than any other artist on this list. "It Wasn't Me" is also the only track listed here to sell a million copies (excluding Boney M, see below). He hasn't bothered the Top 75 since 2005 
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25th May 2015, 10:16 PM
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BuzzJack Enthusiast
Joined: 7 March 2006
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QUOTE Written by David Gates of Bread, the original version was a US Top 5 hit before Boothe took it to number one here, as did Boy George 20-odd years later Boy George's version was in 1987, only 13 years after Ken Boothe's version, so not exactly '20-odd years'. Great info, though! |
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25th May 2015, 11:19 PM
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 4 April 2015
Posts: 7,828 User: 21,725
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Has Buju Banton not had a UK #1 yet?
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26th May 2015, 12:01 AM
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 BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 13 April 2007
Posts: 36,675 User: 3,272
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QUOTE(#BJSCFLOPPERRRRR @ May 25 2015, 10:20 PM) Only in cricket
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27th May 2015, 11:56 AM
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#17
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BuzzJack Enthusiast
Joined: 8 July 2007
Posts: 1,088 User: 3,866
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What about some members of Hot Chocolate and 10cc? Or are the Carribbean members from other nations there? Also wondered about the Fugees, but that's probably because they covered Bob Marley tracks.
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