December 23, 20222 yr Yeah Max Martin really has had a hand in so much 21st Century pop. Certain I know who the top 2 are but interested to see which way round they fall.
December 23, 20222 yr Ah Max Martin was the one I didn’t know! Yeah really interesting to see the order of the top 2 - perhaps a double A side might make a difference?
December 23, 20222 yr Would be great to get a recap of the top 100 before the top 2 is revealed, if that's not too much trouble Dasher!
December 23, 20222 yr Interesting that Max Martin had 3 chart toppers in quick succession, then an 8 year gap, then a pretty consistent flow of them again ever since! The predictable top 2 it is then but actually not entirely sure who would be ahead of the two. (Also sorry for still harping on about this but still just trying to get my head around the logic - does this mean you've essentially treated 'Cold Heart' as if it was an EP / triple A-Side of sorts? It's not the way I'd have done it but I guess I kind of get that if so)
December 23, 20222 yr Author Interesting that Max Martin had 3 chart toppers in quick succession, then an 8 year gap, then a pretty consistent flow of them again ever since! The predictable top 2 it is then but actually not entirely sure who would be ahead of the two. (Also sorry for still harping on about this but still just trying to get my head around the logic - does this mean you've essentially treated 'Cold Heart' as if it was an EP / triple A-Side of sorts?) Depends on the credit on the record but some multi track things I've ignored (like Jive Bunny and Winifred Atwell) simply due to numbers of writers, but where it is three or four tracks and each writer is credited then they get the "point" if you understand :D In the case of "Cold Heart" it was essentially four tracks so to return to my example given if each of those four tracks had been written by different people and they were credited then they each would have got a point.
December 24, 20222 yr Author No 2- John Lennon (31)- 104 weeks Chart toppers: • From Me To You (1963) • Bad To Me (1963) • She Loves You (1963) • I Want To Hold Your Hand (1963) • Can’t Buy Me Love (1964) • World Without Love (1964) • Hard Day’s Night (1964) • I Feel Fine (1964) • Ticket To Ride (1965) • Help (1965) • Day Tripper (1965) • We Can Work It Out (1965) • Michelle (1966) • Paperback Writer (1966) • Eleanor Rigby (1966) • Yellow Submarine (1966) • All You Need Is Love (1967) • Hello Goodbye (1967) • Lady Madonna (1968) • Hey Jude (1968) • With A Little Help From My Friends (1968/1988/2004) • Ob-La-Di, Ob La-Da (1969) • Get Back (1969) • Ballad Of John & Yoko (1969) • Just Like Starting Over (1980) • Imagine (1981) • Woman (1981) • Jealous Guy (1981) • Let It Be (1987) • She’s Leaving Home (1988) • The Long & Winding Road (2002) No shockers I’m sure over the top 2 but shockingly Lennon is still 11 clear of the nearest competition. His death in 1980 saw four Lennon penned tracks soar to the No 1 position meaning he was at No 1 on this matrix for a few years. WrAV5EVI4tU
December 24, 20222 yr Author No 1- Paul McCartney (31) 109 weeks Chart toppers: • From Me To You (1963) • Bad To Me (1963) • She Loves You (1963) • I Want To Hold Your Hand (1963) • Can’t Buy Me Love (1964) • World Without Love (1964) • Hard Day’s Night (1964) • I Feel Fine (1964) • Ticket To Ride (1965) • Help (1965) • Day Tripper (1965) • We Can Work It Out (1965) • Michelle (1966) • Paperback Writer (1966) • Eleanor Rigby (1966) • Yellow Submarine (1966) • All You Need Is Love (1967) • Hello Goodbye (1967) • Lady Madonna (1968) • Hey Jude (1968) • With A Little Help From My Friends (1968/1988/2004) • Ob-La-Di, Ob La-Da (1969) • Get Back (1969) • Ballad Of John & Yoko (1969) • Mull Of Kintyre (1977) • Girls School (1977) • Ebony & Ivory (1982) • Pipes Of Peace (1984) • Let It Be (1987) • She’s Leaving Home (1988) • The Long & Winding Road (2002) Naturally that means that Lennon’s songwriting partner is No 1. Beatles compositions naturally dominate the list as they did the 60s, but McCartney was lucky to create Wings after that and continue his hits right through the 70s before going solo into the 80s and scoring No 1’s in each decade. They were the band to cover during the late 80s with multiple covers soaring to the top and perhaps the most surprising thing is that it has now been over 20 years since one of their (Lennon- McCartney) compositions was at No 1- surely we must be on for another soon?....... B3q4Up5ugTc
December 24, 20222 yr Fab rundown and no surprises at the top end :cheer: Thanks for all the research and i agree with the reasoning - if non descript basically b sides that no one ever heard qualify as number 1 songs, and ep's with 4 tracks qualify as 4 songs - in both cases they are still one single number one - then there is no logical exclusion to ignore the songs that samples are taken from, especially when songwriters get credit for the fartiest minor contribution these days as they generate monstrous lists of songwriter involvement. John lennon and paul mccartney pretty much just worked alone or with each other on their chart toppers, which makes it all the more impressive that they didnt have to drag in, say, Holland dozier holland, carole king, and any other great professional songwriters of the day to get a hit. Granted they would have less if we divided the songs according to who actually wrote the song rather than added a bit here or there - see Paul writing Get Back before our very eyes in the movie! But then we have no idea how much input sheeran has into his tally either or the hordes of pro hitmaker for hires
December 24, 20222 yr Author Full list No 114- Danny Jones (5)- 6 weeks No 113- Frederic Riesterer (5)- 6 weeks No 112- Flo Rida (5)- 6 weeks No 111. Tracey Ackerman (5)-7 weeks No 110- Jess Glynne (5)- 7 weeks No 108- Paul Wilson/ Andy Watkins (Absolute) (5)- 8 weeks No 107- Ari Levine (5)- 8 Weeks No 106- Dizzee Rascal (5)- 10 weeks No 105- Mark Owen (5)- 10 weeks No 103- Per Magnusson & David Krueger (5)- 10 weeks No 102- Kenny Gamble (5)- 10 weeks No 101- Nate Hills (5)- 11 weeks No 100- Katy Perry (5)- 11 weeks No 99- RedOne (5)- 12 weeks No 98- Apl.de. ap (5)- 12 weeks No 97- Mort Shuman (5)- 12 weeks No 96- Bruce Welch (5)- 12 weeks No 95- Doc Pomus (5)- 13 weeks No 94- Brian Higgins (5)- 14 weeks No 93- David Bowie (5)- 15 weeks No 92- Justin Timberlake (5)- 15 weeks No 91- Ryan Tedder (5)- 15 weeks No 90- Roy Orbison (5)- 16 weeks No 88- Mike Chapman & Nicky Chinn (5)-16 weeks No 87- Ina Wroldson (5)- 17 weeks No 86- Sting (5)- 19 weeks No 85- Shellback (5)- 19 weeks No 84- Guy Chambers (6)- 6 weeks No 83- Steve Robson (6)- 7 weeks No 82- Bonnie McKee (6)- 8 weeks No 81- Ne-Yo (6)- 9 Weeks No 80- Paul Weller (6)- 9 weeks No 79- Camille Purcell (6)- 10 weeks No 78- Beyonce Knowles (6)- 11 weeks No 77- Lady Gaga (6)- 13 weeks No 76- Jason Derulo (6)- 14 weeks No 75- Tony Macauley (6)- 17 weeks No 74- Matt Rowe (6)- 17 weeks No 73- Hal David (6)- 18 weeks No 72- Richard Rogers (6)- 19 weeks No 70- Noddy Holder & Jim Lea (6)- 20 weeks No 69- Jack Patterson (6)- 24 weeks No 68- Freddie Mercury (6)- 27 weeks No 67- James Bourne (7)- 8 weeks No 63-Bono, Larry Mullen Jnr, The Edge, and Adam Clayton (U2) (7)- 8 Weeks No 62- Tinie Tempah (7)- 9 weeks No 61- Ray Hedges (7)- 10 weeks No 60- Savan Kotecha (7)- 11 weeks No 59- Timbaland (7)- 15 weeks No 58- Cirkut (7)- 15 weeks No 57- James Napier (7)- 16 weeks No 55- Mick Jagger & Keith Richards (7)- 17 weeks No 53- Bruno Mars & Phillip Lawrence (7)- 18 weeks No 50- Matt Stock, Mike Aitken & Pete Waterman (7)- 19 weeks No 49- Ariana Grande (7)- 20 weeks No 48- Pharrell Williams (7)- 21 weeks No 47- Burt Bacharach (7)- 21 weeks No 46- Stig Anderson (7)- 28 weeks No 45- Fred Gibson (7)- 33 weeks No 44- Drake (7)- 33 weeks No 43- Oscar Hammerstein (7)- 34 weeks No 42- Justin Bieber (7)- 37 weeks No 41- David Guetta (8)- 9 weeks No 40- Robbie Williams (8)- 10 weeks No 39- Claude Kelly (8)- 12 weeks No 36- Ben Kohn, Tom Barnes & Peter Kelleher (TMS) (8)- 15 weeks No 35- Jorgen Elofsson (8)- 18 weeks No 34- Michael Jackson (8)- 18 weeks No 33- Sam Smith (8)- 19 weeks No 32- Cathy Dennis (8)- 20 weeks No 31- Noel Gallagher (9)- 9 weeks No 30- George Michael (9)- 20 weeks No 29- Maurice Gibb (9)- 21 weeks No 28- Richard Stannard (9)- 22 weeks No 27- Tom Fletcher (10)- 12 weeks No 25- Barry & Robin Gibb (10)- 24 weeks No 24- Marshall Mathers (11)- 14 weeks No 22 -Mikkel S Eriksen & Tor Erik Hermansen (Stargate) (11)- 18 weeks No 21- Will.i.am (11)- 21 weeks No 19- Victoria Beckham & Melanie Brown (11)- 22 weeks No 18- Geri Halliwell (11)- 23 weeks No 17- Benny Blanco (11)- 27 weeks No 16- Emma Bunton (12)- 24 weeks No 15- Melanie Chisholm (13)- 24 weeks No 14- Bernie Taupin (13)- 25 weeks No 13- Gary Barlow (13)- 28 weeks No 12- Madonna (13)- 29 weeks No 11- Calvin Harris (13)- 34 weeks No 10- Wayne Hector (14)- 19 weeks No 9- Dr Luke (14)- 25 weeks No 8- Elton John (14)- 31 weeks No 6- Benny Andersson & Bjorn Ulveaus (15)- 46 weeks No 5- Steve Mac (15)- 47 weeks No 4- Ed Sheeran (16)- 73 weeks No 3- Max Martin (20)- 51 weeks No 2- John Lennon (31)- 104 weeks No 1- Paul McCartney (31) 109 weeks
December 24, 20222 yr Author Thanks to everyone who commented as always and Happy Christmas to everyone!
December 24, 20222 yr Thanks for this Gezza and Happy Christmas! What a list of masterpieces for both Lennon & McCartney but some of the later ones like Ebony & Ivory and Woman do prove they were better together for me!
December 24, 20222 yr Yeah as I thought Girls School took Paul over the line haha - thanks Gezza great thread as always :)
December 24, 20222 yr Always expected to see Lennon/McCartney at the top and at a guess would have put McCartney on top but couldn't be sure. Just look at that, writing credits on 31 chart toppers over decades and decades. That just shows (not that it needed proving) how phenomenal they both and the Beatles were and puts taking other people's records and changing a few of the words to 'sausage roll' to get some record achievement in its superficial context. Thanks for this thread Gezza, has been very interesting throughout.
December 24, 20222 yr The right top 2, with at least two years at #1 each. One of their songs was sampled in a Top 5 hit as recently as last year, so there's every chance they'll add to their tallies, but regardless it's hard to see them ever being overtaken in their numbers of #1s. Thanks for the thread Gezza!
December 24, 20222 yr Were McCartney/Lennon not credited for the usage of Hey Jude in Peter Kay's Children In Need Medley then, or is that included under the total weeks for Hey Jude?
December 24, 20222 yr Author I didn't count medleys were there are more than 4 tracks otherwise the thread would have taken a lot longer to write by the time you look at Jive Bunny and winifred atwell etc. It wouldn't have changed the end result as it would have been additonal weeks to both writers but as "Hey Jude" was already a No 1 it would have just been an addional couple of weeks rather than a 32nd No 1.
December 24, 20222 yr Wow a photo finish there (not too surprising given most of their hits were written together but still). I'm not surprised at how far ahead they are, going through the #1 singles sessions it felt like every other #1 was still something Beatles adjacent for quite a while after their split :lol: I'm sure we will get another Beatles-adjacent #1 some day indeed, as already alluded to we came kind of close recently with the sample inception on Drake's 'Champagne Poetry' which got to #5, sampling a Masego song which in turn sampled The Beatles giving Lennon-McCartney writing credits on a fresh top 5 hit. Thanks for the efforts running this Gezza! (Now I really need to finish reading the 90s #2 rate results, I fell behind with that too and ended up with an intimidating number of pages left to read haha) Thanks for all the research and i agree with the reasoning - if non descript basically b sides that no one ever heard qualify as number 1 songs, and ep's with 4 tracks qualify as 4 songs - in both cases they are still one single number one - then there is no logical exclusion to ignore the songs that samples are taken from For what it's worth if I made this list myself I wouldn't count double A-Sides and EPs as multiple #1s either (would just count it as 1 for each writer who was involved with at least one of the songs). But yes, I can accept the logic of treating them the same way. I would conversely count covers as multiples if they got to #1 in multiple versions (e.g. counting 'With A Little Help From My Friends' as 3 #1s each for Lennon & McCartney) but again I can kind of see why Gezza didn't.
December 24, 20222 yr I have utterly loved reading through this thread, so interesting! Thank you for all the hard work and have a lovely Christmas x
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