An almost-featured one here would have been Little Mix - Touch which spent 6 weeks at no 4 (with a week at 5 and a week at 6 in the middle) - would have peaked at no 2 had Ed not released SOY/COTH :(

 

Always annoys me how the label held back the video for about a month when it was first blowing up and it hit no 4 for 2 weeks before the video was even released, could have easily been a number 1 for them if they'd played it right. Their best single too IMO!

Edited October 26, 20222 yr by Starlight 13

#45

 

3 consecutive weeks at a peak of #45

(1978)

11/03/1978: 47-48-45-45-45

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #45

Hardy Caprio featuring One Acen - Unsigned (2017)

Jim Reeves - How Long Has It Been (1965)

Tinie Tempah featuring WizKid - Mamacita (2016)

(1964)

26/09/1964: 49-45-47-45

 

David Essex was one of many to cover Stay With Me Baby, although only a few have charted - the highest being, er, Rebecca Wheatley (from Casualty) whose version reached #10 in 2000.

 

The double-peaker I've picked out today is one of those "I can't believe it didn't make the Top 40" records - its Spotify streams are more than double the next highest Drifters song. A couple of cover versions did make it: Tom Tom Club at #22 in 1982 and, er, Bruce Willis at #2 in 1987.

 

Can't imagine how long this must have taken to researched through but I'm extremely grateful!

 

I had to give the Singing Sheep song a listen out of sheer curiosity, good grief :lol:

Thanks Dobbo, was just the odd 20 minutes here and there, although I dread to think how much it all added up to :o I did the same - as I suspected, once was enough :lol:

 

Agree that Little Mix were unlucky that six weeks at #4 wasn't a record.

Edited October 27, 20222 yr by jimwatts

The Drifters' Under The Boardwalk is great. The fact that Bruce Willis nearly had a #1 with it is one of those hilarious oddities of the UK chart. :lol:

#46

 

3 consecutive weeks at a peak of #46

(1978)

11/03/1978: 46-46-46

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #46

(1969)

13/09/1969: 46-50-46

(1981, 1982: 2+1)

12/12/1981: 71-59-46-46-55-46-47-51-69

 

A late one tonight but three songs to cover. First from Fleetwood Mac is another one which is rather better known than its #46 peak position would suggest - indeed, only this week it was announced as the UK's 250th most streamed song from the 70s, 80s or 90s (excluding Christmas songs).

 

The streak of every position having had at least two songs which spent exactly two non-consecutive weeks at peak is broken here, as there is only one - and it's by The Foundations, who had a #1 with Baby Now That I've Found You but are probably better known for the #2 Build Me Up Buttercup. However there are still two which had two non-consecutive runs at every position from #1 downwards, as Perhaps Love did when it held #46 for 3 weeks in the space of 4. I didn't know what to expect as I only really knew Placido Domingo from being one of the Three Tenors, but the arrangement of this duet is more in John Denver's style and I think it works well.

Edited October 27, 20222 yr by jimwatts

#47

 

3 consecutive weeks at a peak of #47

(1978)

16/12/1978: 53-47-47-47

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #47

(2017: 1+2)

15/06/2017: 47-65-65-55-50-47-47-49-52-88

(1970)

25/04/1970: 50; 09/05/1970: 47-48-47

 

Ready for another Christmas novelty? The Dickies were a punk band who went on to have a Top 10 hit, but this was their first foray into the charts. You can probably guess what it sounds like.

 

Two songs visited a #47 peak twice. One of them was Fifth Harmony's only UK chart hit after Camila Cabello left the group - it features Gucci Mane, who has only 8 Top 100 hits on his artist page of the OCC site with at least one missing (Spotlight, under "Gucci Mane ft Usher"), but I thought he had more than that. The other is something of a reggae classic which you may recognise as having been covered by Amy Winehouse.

Gucci Mane has quite a few more hits in the US than in the UK unsurprisingly. (His Wikipedia discography page is also extremely long as he has dropped a pretty absurd number of mixtapes over the years :lol:)

 

I know the Winehouse version of 'Monkey Man' but actually didn't know it was a cover!

#48

 

3 consecutive weeks at a peak of #48

(1977)

24/12/1977: 48-48-48

(1987)

19/12/1987: 83-48-48-48-61

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #48

Jimmy Smith - Got My Mojo Working (1966)

(2007)

14/07/2007: 48-56-48-54-52-60-89

 

Spending 3 weeks at a #48 peak is one of a few import singles in this list - most of those were followed by a full release and I'll come to whether they should be counted as separate when they come up, but In God's Country was never given the full single treatment in the UK so this is as high as it got. The three earlier singles from The Joshua Tree were huge, but I think this is one of the most durable tracks on the album.

 

One of the two songs which peaked at #48 twice is a Fall Out Boy song I didn't actually know. It's not the most immediate of their early singles so perhaps it wasn't too surprising it was their first chart hit to miss the Top 40. They are still yet to have a UK #1 single or album, reaching #3 with this song's parent album and #2 with three later albums.

Edited October 30, 20222 yr by jimwatts

'You Light Up My Life' is/was in the top 10 songs of all time in the US I believe (not sure if it still is or if it got kicked out by some of the recent mega hits). The UK gave it more what it deserved. x

 

Good song from Fall Out Boy there though.

#49

 

3 consecutive weeks at a peak of #49

(1975)

06/09/1975: 49-49-49

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #49

Average White Band - When Will You Be Mine (1979)

Barclay James Harvest - Rock And Roll Star (Live EP) (1977)

Gene McDaniels - Tower Of Strength (1961)

(2017: 1+2)

19/01/2017: 60-49-50-53-49-49-56-73-85-88-99; 13/04/2017: 85-89

(2017, 2018)

09/11/2017: 49-53-56-65-72-99-83-79-95-59-59-63-72-49-59-82-87

 

The only Hamilton Bohannon song I'd previously heard is Let's Start The Dance, a fine funky number (later interpolated into Clock's 1995 #6 hit Everybody). Happy Feeling hasn't hit me in the same way, not helped by a piano riff which sounds like it's played with boxing gloves on, but it's otherwise pleasant enough.

 

The other song to spend 3 weeks at a #49 peak did so over two runs - Alessia Cara's theme song from Disney's Moana. It peaked higher than Auli'i Cravalho's #55 version from within the film itself, although that has had quadruple the youtube views. Four other songs double-peaked at #49, including MotorSport on its 1st and 14th weeks on the chart.

 

'You Light Up My Life' is/was in the top 10 songs of all time in the US I believe (not sure if it still is or if it got kicked out by some of the recent mega hits).

I did not realise this! I've added its video link and UK chart run to yesterday's post.

I know that Average White Band song from it being entered to BJSC, was decent iirc. Strange name for a band though.

 

Wow at the chart run for 'MotorSport'! I think that is and probably always will be the only song that has both Nicki and Cardi on it.

#50

 

3 consecutive weeks at a peak of #50

(1966)

06/04/1966: 50-50-50

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #50

(2019)

07/03/2019: 89-85-79-64-50-52-50-60-56-69-72-81

(1966)

27/07/1966: 50; 10/08/1966: 50

 

Working My Way Back To You was a 1980 #1 for The Detroit Spinners, but fourteen years earlier it spent 3 weeks at what was then the lowest rung of the chart for The Four Seasons. As with many of their hits, Frankie Valli throws in a few falsetto notes.

 

Last Hurrah is still Bebe Rexha's biggest hit which didn't have any credited collaborators, although if we count those which did then it certainly wasn't her last hurrah in chart terms, as she went on to top the chart just a few short weeks ago.

 

I've added the link for A House In The Country as it's the last song from before 1978, when the chart became a Top 75, to appear in this countdown.

Edited November 1, 20222 yr by jimwatts

#51

 

2 consecutive weeks at a peak of #51

Breekout Crew - Matt's Mood (1984)

Brett Eldredge featuring Meghan Trainor - Baby It's Cold Outside (2020)

Ian McCulloch - September Song (1984)

John Foxx - Miles Away (1980)

S.O.S. Band - Weekend Girl (1984)

(1989)

02/09/1989: 52-51-51-72

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #51

(1995)

16/12/1995: 51-57-51-70-78

(2007, 2019)

14/12/1991: 69-74; 22/12/2007: 76-51; 05/01/2017: 77; 04/01/2018: 66; 03/01/2019: 56; 26/12/2019: 97-51; 17/12/2020: 85-84-63-56; 09/12/2021: 77-67-63-67-54

 

Delving outside the Top 50, this is the first position in the countdown where nothing has had 3 weeks at peak, so we've got a longer list of two-weekers at #51 (although not as long as some positions). Most of these 1980s songs look interesting, but I've chosen Ian McCulloch purely because he has two of them! I know and like a fair amount of Echo And The Bunnymen songs, but hadn't heard any of his solo songs before - I'm particularly liking Proud To Fall from the first couple of listens.

 

Two songs have had two runs at a #51 peak, but one is in danger of losing that status in a few weeks' time which would leave #51 as the first position with only one. The safe one is the only appearance of a song from 1995 in this countdown, and it's from Disney's Pocahontas which I haven't seen so was unaware of the song. Can't say I thought much of it on first listen, but I'm intrigued to learn either of them had a chart hit as late as that - in fact it was Shanice's last, while Jon Secada had just one more.

 

The song by Nat 'King' Cole that could lose its #51 peak (once each in the download and streaming eras) surely needs no introduction - expect to start hearing it any day now. Nevertheless, its low peak does seem something of an anomaly at this stage and it wouldn't be out of place in the Top 40 one of these Christmases (unless there's a rule change to banish old Christmas songs of course).

If only that song had actually been Bebe's last hurrah :kink: (not that I've particularly liked any of her top 100 hits really, 'Hey Mama' was ok and the rest are all some level of dislike for me oops, including that one)

 

Not sure I knew Nat's Xmas staple had never made the top 40 or even top 50, certainly wouldn't mind seeing that eventually better that! The only other song from that lot that I've heard is the dreadful Brett/Kelly thing though I do now recognise the name John Foxx courtesy of The Best Song Contest In The World... Ever!

#52

 

2 consecutive weeks at a peak of #52

Angelic Upstarts - Never 'Ad Nothin' (1979)

Cashmere - We Need Love (1985)

I-Level - Minefield (1983)

Jean-Michel Jarre - London Kid (1989)

Jim Davidson - White Christmas / Two Risky (1980)

Kool And The Gang - Hangin' Out (1980)

Kristen Bell & Santino Fontana - Love Is An Open Door (2014)

OneRepublic - Rescue Me (2019)

Pink & Willow Sage Hart - Cover Me In Sunshine (2021)

(1979)

15/12/1979: 58-52-52-64-73

(1992)

22/08/1992: 52-52

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #52

Digital Underground - Same Song (1991)

Martin Jensen & James Arthur - Nobody (2019)

(1984)

18/02/1984: 81-64-52-58-52-60-76

 

A few more two-week #52s to choose from today, and I've ended up picking out the last ones alphabetically. There was a poll of favourite musical Sams in the Lounge recently, and Sammy Hagar was the last one not to receive any votes, so he and his fast guitar playing can have this here pedestal instead. Suzanne Vega is probably best known for Tom's Diner which was remixed into a #2 for DNA in 1990, but she had other memorable hits including Marlene On The Wall and Luka in the 1980s, and In Liverpool is more in that vein.

 

Of the three double-peakers, Hey DJ may well be the most recognisable - it's been covered a few times including a version by N-Tyce which reached #20 in 1997, and it was sampled in Mariah Carey's song Honey which was released the same year.

#53

 

3 consecutive weeks at a peak of #53

(1987)

29/08/1987: 61-53-53-53-58

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #53

[NONE]

 

A three-week peaker today, and it's from another guitar maestro, although Gary Moore plays a bit slower than Sammy Hagar and there's aren't any vocals. Parisienne Walkways was his biggest solo hit, reaching #8 in 1979, and The Loner gives a similar vibe.

 

And the title turns out to be appropriate, as that's the only song today - the chain of songs with two runs at peak is broken here! So how many more positions will be missing lower down the Top 100? We shall see (myself included - 47 days is plenty of time for any of these blanks to be filled!)

Edited November 3, 20222 yr by jimwatts

#54

 

2 consecutive weeks at a peak of #54

52nd Street - Tell Me (How It Feels) (1985)

Nazareth - Star (1979)

Shakespear's Sister - Run Silent (1989)

Toyah - Echo Beach (1987)

Visage - Love Glove (1984)

(2011)

18/06/2011: 75-71-58-54-54-59-66-97; 20/08/2011: 86; 03/09/2011: 90-99

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #54

FM - Bad Luck (1989)

Slade - Do You Believe In Miracles (1985)

(2008)

21/06/2008: 62-55; 22/11/2008: 54-82-54-88

(2017)

07/09/2017: 77; 21/09/2017: 73-54-62-58-65-55-56-54-58

 

Back to a big crop of songs today, and I've picked out those from the last 15 years. Rihanna made her chart comeback today after only appearing on one other new song since 2017. She appeared on 14 songs which made the Top 40 in 2011, but Man Down wasn't one of them as #54 was as high as it got.

 

One of those 14 songs was Princess Of China, a yet to be single-released track from Coldplay's album. From their previous era, Lost was rather overshadowed by the #1 Viva La Vida and pre-album single Violet Hill, but it made #54 twice and very nearly a third time as it had also climbed to #55. The same was true of Jorja Smith's first chart hit as lead artist.

#55

 

2 consecutive weeks at a peak of #55

Bangles - Following (1987)

Barry Biggs - What's Your Sign Girl (1979)

Bugzy Malone featuring Rag'N'Bone Man - Run (2018)

Drake featuring PartyNextDoor - With You (2016)

Jets - Sugar Doll (1981)

Marc Almond - The House Is Haunted (1985)

Midge Ure - Dear God (1988)

Mike Berry - Memories (1981)

Randy Travis - Forever And Ever, Amen (1988)

Way Of Life - Trippin' On Your Love (1990)

AC/DC - It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll) (1980)

28/06/1980: 55-55-74

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #55

(1992)

12/12/1992: 55-64-55-61

(1980)

09/02/1980: 55-56-55-63

(1998, 1999)

28/11/1998: 55-80; 21/08/1999: 55-78

 

Miles to go in this countdown as we reach a quarter of the way through - I'm feeling generous today so I've picked out 4 songs which spent two weeks at #55. The one that jumps out from the consecutive weeks list is one of AC/DC's signature songs from before Bon Scott's life was cut tragically short. As if it weren't already enough of a rock 'n' roll anthem, just wait for the bagpipes! I really couldn't see LadBaby covering this one.

 

You may know of Australian ABBA tribute band Bjorn Again from their cover of Erasure's A Little Respect on their 1992 'Erasure-Ish' EP - clearly a response to Erasure's 'ABBA-Esque'. You may not know they got some other hits out of their 15 minutes of fame - their version of the much-covered Christmas standard, as you might expect, shoehorns in some musical references to their and our Swedish idols, like the Waterloo opening and piano stabs.

 

The next novelty song, Martian Hop, is a fun pastiche of early rock 'n' roll and alien fascination. I particularly like the backing vocals.

 

The last one today is the only song from either 1998 or 1999 to feature in this countdown - its first charting release peaked at #55 and a Daft Punk remix came out the following year with the same result. It is the latter - by far the most streamed version, naturally - for which I've given the link above.

Edited November 5, 20222 yr by jimwatts

I had not heard of Bjorn Again - what a name :lol:

#56

 

3 consecutive weeks at a peak of #56

(1979)

08/12/1979: 71-56-56-56-68-64

Carol Hitchcock - Get Ready (1987)

16/05/1987: 93-81-73-56-56-56-69

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #56

[NONE]

 

Just two songs today and they're both automatic choices. The first is (thankfully) not a cover of the John Miles song if the same name - instead it's a soulful number somewhere between funk and disco. Get Ready is, however, a cover of the Temptations song, and a hi-NRG S/A/W produced one at that.

#57

 

3 consecutive weeks at a peak of #57

(1987)

31/10/1987: 67-57-57-57-71

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #57

[NONE]

 

Now we've dropped from the cusp of the Top 40, most of what remains of the countdown is, let's face it, a fairly random cross-section of songs which may have had some low-end chart longevity without breaking into the big time. However, just occasionally, there is a song which is a true cult classic and the tip of a musical iceberg, and Hit The North is absolutely one of those. The Fall were led by the maverick and now late Mark E. Smith and had been active since the 1970s, but started to gain modest chart success in the mid-to-late 80s when they struck a chord with the burgeoning indie scene and beginnings of acid house. They had three Top 40 hits, but Hit The North was their longest running chart hit at 5 weeks despite stalling at #57. As for what the song is about, this Wikipedia page explains it better than I ever could.