#58

 

3 consecutive weeks at a peak of #58

(1979)

17/11/1979: 66-58-58-58-66-75-75

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #58

(1985: 2+1)

07/12/1985: 58-58-60-64-58-65

(1989)

01/07/1989: 58-66; 19/08/1989: 66-58-78

(1984)

02/06/1984: 71-60-58-59-58-71

 

Today's song which made 3 consecutive weeks at peak was a rocky one-hit wonder. Another song managed 3 weeks but over two runs - I remember and enjoyed the Inspector Gadget cartoons in the late 80s / early 90s and the theme tune is rather iconic, but this version started to grate a little for me over four and half minutes. I may as well talk through the other two double-peakers: Kiss AMC were a duo of rapping sisters, and their bit of U2 came from the much sampled #10 hit New Year's Day. The song from rock band Twister Sister appears to be something of a cult anthem, albeit one I'm not too familiar with.

#59

 

2 consecutive weeks at a peak of #59

David Essex - You're In My Heart (1983)

Dexter Wansell - All Night Long (1978)

Juice WRLD / Justin Bieber - Wandered To LA (2021)

Shakin' Stevens - Pink Champagne (1990)

Stevie Wonder - Skeletons (1987)

Trini Lopez - Trini Trax (1981)

(1982)

17/07/1982: 68-59-59

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #59

[NONE]

 

This is the first position which had neither any songs to spend 3 weeks at peak nor any to have 2 runs there. Camelphat & Jake Bugg - Be Someone came close to doing both with an initial climb to #59 and later climb to a 59-58-59 summit, but instead we're left with this bunch of fortnighters. The original of Soul Deep by The Box Tops reached #22 in 1969.

Honourable mention, Interestingly enough, Overseas by D-Block Europe and Central Cee spent 6 weeks at number 8 but it peaked at number 6

#60

 

2 consecutive weeks at a peak of #60

Bertie Higgins - Key Largo (1982)

Dooleys - Don't Take It Lyin' Down (1978)

Melba Moore - Underlove (1983)

Tubes - Don't Want To Wait Anymore (1981)

Urban Soul - Alright (1991)

(1981)

18/10/1980: 69-62; 24/01/1981: 74-60-60-73

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #60

(2015)

20/08/2015: 60-64-60

 

Generation X were a British punk band who had some Top 40 success before this, their last chart hit, which then became the launchpad in the US for lead singer Billy Idol's solo career. The song is about The song made an appearance in an episode of Glee.

 

The only song which had two runs at a #60 peak belongs to none other than Lana Del Rey. Who knew she had such an obscure accolade? It's a beautiful, mesmerising song, although it didn't get the reception of West Coast, the lead single from her previous album the year earlier.

 

We're now a third of the way through - thanks to all who've commented so far. ^_^

That Lana song also had the unfortunate achievement of being announced as charting at #7 in the US but then it turned out there was a mistake and it was actually #51. :drama:

 

Deserved a higher peak both here and in the US, it is a great song, from an album that's pretty underrated in general imo (although admittedly not her best)

#61

 

3 consecutive weeks at a peak of #61

(2015)

26/11/2015: 61-61-61-84

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #61

(1978, 1979: 2+2)

20/08/2015: 61-61-68-61-61-64

(1992)

23/12/1989: 85-90-92-65-72-88; 21/11/1992: 61-64-61

(2021)

04/03/2021: 65-66-61-63-74-84-79-94-69-61-66-68-85

 

The song with the most consecutive weeks at a #61 peak is from one of the biggest album bombs of the early streaming era before Divide and the subsequent 3-track rule. Many of the tracks from Justin Bieber's album Purpose had similar longevity on the singles chart - the title track started out 41-41-42 for example - but this one stayed put for its first 3 weeks. I quite like it from first listen.

 

However the song with the most weeks in total at a #61 peak did so over two runs of 2 weeks each, and is one of just two songs on this countdown to manage 4 weeks at its peak. A shame then that it's a rather plaintive piano ballad, about as far removed from the 1972 #1 School's Out and 1989 #2 Poison as you could imagine. Joe Cocker had also reached veteran rock singer status by 1989, however his song reached a slightly higher peak (twice) on its re-release three years later. Beating all of these for weeks in the top 75 was Paul Woolford's follow-up to Looking For Me - a tough one to follow, and this didn't quite catch alight in the same way.

#62

 

3 consecutive weeks at a peak of #62

Commodores - Just To Be Close To You (1978)

25/11/1978: 62-62-62-75

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #62

(1983)

23/04/1983: 71-62-66-62

 

The Commodores had some funky tunes like Brick House and Machine Gun, though they are possibly best known for their ballads, specifically Easy and Three Times A Lady. It probably comes as no surprise that Just To Be Close To You is one of the latter, but they weren't bad at these and they all helped set up Lionel Richie for even greater success as a solo artist a few years later.

 

Australian band Icehouse already have an appearance at the start of this thread as their previous single, Hey Little Girl, spent 3 weeks at #17. That and their later hit Crazy were the only songs of theirs I'd heard before this one - I've liked them all and may well come back to them more.

#63

 

2 consecutive weeks at a peak of #63

AnnenMayKantereit and Giant Rooks - Tom's Diner (2022)

Earth Wind And Fire - Back On The Road (1980)

EAV - Ba-Ba-Bank Robbery (1986)

Emmy Meli - I Am Woman (2022)

Eurythmics - Never Gonna Cry Again (1981)

Farm - Stepping Stone / Family Of Man (1990)

Sisters Of Mercy - No Time To Cry (1985)

Whodini - Magic's Wand (The Whodini Electric EP) (1984)

(1985)

09/11/1985: 74-63-63-70

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #63

(1986)

21/12/1985: 85-86; 11/01/1986: 80-83-63-64-63

 

A few songs to choose from today, but the one I've gone for by New Order is my favourite in the countdown so far. They could barely put a foot wrong at this point, and this single from their album Low-Life (also home to The Perfect Kiss) is ushered in by a spindly synth riff which gives way to a throbbing beat and some great lines like: "These crazy words of mine, so wrong they could be right". If it hasn't been entered into a Buzzjack song contest already, it should be.

 

Today's double-peaking song charted just a few weeks later. Amii Stewart had already made the Top 40 with this same medley of Motown classics alongside Johnny Bristol in 1980, and Deon Estus played bass for Wham! The original My Girl by The Temptations would not make the Top 40 until just over 6 years after this.

#64

 

2 consecutive weeks at a peak of #64

3rd Bass - Pop Goes The Weasel (1991)

Billy Griffin - Serious (1984)

Gary Clail and On-U Sound System - Beef (1990)

Judge Dread - Jingle Bells / Hokey Cokey (1978)

(1983)

28/05/1983: 76-74-64-64-73-84

(1983)

05/03/1983: 100-76-71-64-64

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #64

[NONE]

 

Another of my 80s favourites comes up today! Aztec Camera were on an independent label when they released Walk Out To Winter - the eight minute extended version, with a wintry synth riff and drum sequence to go with the guitar work, is the one I've provided a link to. They went on to have a #3 with Somewhere In My Heart.

 

Sticking with 1983, Mexican Radio is a song I'd heard about elsewhere but not actually listened to until now, and it didn't disappoint - can't really go wrong with 80s pop-oriented indie for me.

Sub-Culture and Walk Out To Winter are both fantastic songs.

I only know Gary Clail and On-U Sound System for “Human Nature”..

 

When you get to #71, you'll be picking on one of my favourite songs of the 1980s which had a chart run of 86-{71}-71-72. <3

I know of 'Mexican Radio' from Todd in the Shadows making a One Hit Wonderland episode about it (in spite of the fact it wasn't really much of a "hit" even in the US). Quite a curious song but not a bad one.

 

 

#65

 

2 consecutive weeks at a peak of #65

Clarence 'Frogman' Henry - (I Don't Know Why) But I Do (1993)

Curtis Mayfield - No Goodbyes (1978)

Osmond Boys - Boys Will Be Boys (1991)

Ray Parker Jr and Natalie Cole - Over You (1988)

Reid - Real Emotion (1989)

Twin Hype - Do It To The Crowd (1989)

Wilbur Soot - Your New Boyfriend (2021)

(2022)

15/09/2022: 90-82-65-65-74-68-66-70-80-91

/

(1982)

17/04/1982: 65-65

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #65

[NONE]

 

Let's stick with the early 80s electronics first, and a double A-side. This was Blancmange's first chart hit, and both songs sound as beguilling as their three later Top 10s, of which Living On The Ceiling was the highest charting (and best for me). Honorable mention for their cover of ABBA's The Day Before You Came which outpeaked the original with 3 weeks at #22.

 

The other song today by Armani White is currently in the Top 100, and very nearly managed a separate third week at #65. At only 1:40 long, it samples Nothin' by N.O.R.E. and, other than rhyming with "stylish", doesn't seem to have much to do with Billie Eilish herself, who appears later in this countdown. Elsewhere, there's a reminder of that Wilbur Soot song.

Edited November 15, 20222 yr by jimwatts

The 'big T-shirt' in the hook of the Armani White song is also a reference to Billie Eilish's fashion sense, and the music video parodies a few of Billie's videos, so the homage is not solely to have a word to rhyme with 'stylish'. Though admittedly it's still quite tenuous. Good song though. Unlike Wilbur Soot. x

#66

 

3 consecutive weeks at a peak of #66

(1982)

30/01/1982: 66-66-66

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #66

Alexis Jordan - Hush Hush (2011)

28/05/2011: 82-66-87-79-66-67

(1988)

10/12/1988: 76-66-68-66; 14/01/1989: 83

(2012)

01/09/2012: 99-66-90; 17/11/2012: 66

 

Another song from the early 80s has the consecutive weeks record today - not the most innovative perhaps, but it's a surprisingly moving ballad. In Barbra Streisand's chart history it was sandwiched between two hits which both peaked at #34 and are little more known: Guilty and Memory.

 

Three songs each managed 2 separate peaks at #66, with all of them following shortly after Top 10 hits for the same artists. Alexis Jordan's in particular sounds like it had potential for at least Top 40.

 

For anyone who's aware of the chart weeks in 1994, 1995 and 1999 which were later revised, a lesser known example comes up tomorrow!

#67

 

2 consecutive weeks at a peak of #67

Alisha - Baby Talk (1986)

Brilliant - Somebody (1986)

Diamond Head - In The Heat Of The Night (1982)

Inner Circle - Games People Play (1994)

Meat Loaf - Nowhere Fast (1984)

Signal 1 & Signal 2 - Standing Together (2006)

(2016)

03/03/2016: 67-67-82

(1990)

07/07/1990: 67-67-75-83

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #67

Sammy Hagar - Piece Of My Heart (1982)

(1993, 1994)

27/03/1993: 67; 11/06/1994: 67-94

 

Jack Garratt won the Critics' Choice at the 2016 Brit Awards which I think is what propelled his 2014 single to become his only chart hit. Joanna Law's cover of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - which Roberta Flack made famous - was sampled in Way Out West's 1996 #15 hit The Gift, on which she was credited.

 

Of the songs which peaked at #67 twice, we've already heard from Sammy Hagar in this countdown (this song is indeed a cover), so instead I'll focus on the curious case of Only With You. The first chart hit for Captain Hollywood Project in 1993, it got another UK release after their three Top 30 hits and appeared to improve its peak very slightly with a week at #61 second time around. However that week's chart, w/e 11/06/1994, is one of those which the OCC appears to have quietly revised in their online chart, since they have the song matching its original #67 peak instead.

 

This appears to be quite a recent change - not only does Polyhex have it at #61 that week, but so does my copy of The Official Singles Charts: The Nineties which was only published in 2019. As a slight tangent to the countdown, there are a number of differences between the OCC online chart and the previously published version for that week, which I'll call "OCC" and "Polyhex" respectively below - all of them below #14, but several which affected peaks, as follows:

 

OCC #28 (#27 peak); Polyhex #25: Crowded House - Fingers Of Love

OCC #31; Polyhex #29: Therapy? - Die Laughing

OCC #32 (#30 peak); Polyhex #24: SWV - Anything

OCC #39; Polyhex #36: Dannii Minogue - Get Into You

OCC #40; Polyhex #43: Cracker - Low

OCC #44; Polyhex #38: Melanie Williams - Everyday Thang

OCC #46; Polyhex #45: 2wo Third3 - Ease The Pressure

OCC #48; Polyhex #47: Morrissey - Hold On To Your Friends

OCC #54; Polyhex #50: Boo Radleys - Lazarus

OCC #60; Polyhex #62: DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince - Twinkle Twinkle (I'm Not A Star)

OCC #63; Polyhex #60: Lush - Desire Lines

OCC #67; Polyhex #61: Captain Hollywood Project - Only With You

OCC #75; Polyhex #71: Opus III - When You Made The Mountain

OCC #81; Polyhex #68: A Tribe Called Quest - Oh My God

OCC #83; Polyhex #73: Jeanie Tracy - If This Is Love

OCC #85; Polyhex #69: Tanya Blount - I'm Gonna Make You Mine

 

Therefore, Melanie Williams' only Top 40 hit on her own has been scrubbed out, as have three Top 75 hits including the only one for Tanya Blount. At the same time, Cracker have been credited with a Top 40 hit after all these years - Low even had a re-release later in 1994 which made #54, after it appeared to have missed the Top 40 first time around and with their follow-up, Get Off This, having stalled at #41.

Jack Garratt really deserved better. At least he has a bit more company now among Sound of... winners who didn't really go on to achieve much of note.

 

Was that Melanie Williams song played on the Radio 1 chart at the time then?

Was that Melanie Williams song played on the Radio 1 chart at the time then?

Yes, that week's Top 40 as it appears in my book (and for each of those songs on Polyhex) is exactly how it was announced at the time.

 

#68

 

2 consecutive weeks at a peak of #68

Ashanti - Foolish [import] (2002)

Big Audio - Looking For A Song (1994)

David Sylvian & Robert Fripp - Jean The Birdman (1993)

Tingo Tango - It Is Jazz (1990)

(1993)

26/06/1993: 68-68

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #68

(2002: 2+1)

08/06/2002: 68-68; 06/07/2002: 82-68

 

From k.d. lang's debut album Ingénue, also home to Constant Craving which had made #15, Miss Chatelaine was one of just two of her later songs to manage a second week in the Top 75.

 

We also have the first ~controversial~ appearance in this countdown of an import single whose full release charted much higher. The week after the import of Ashanti's Foolish climbed to #68 for a second run and third week in total, it got its full UK release which debuted and peaked at #4. For chart purposes, an import is usually counted as a different entity to a full release, since these usually involve different catalogue numbers and often different labels, but whether they should remain separate for the purpose of qualifying for this particular record is unclear. Arguably, if we're counting as one song the likes of Olive - Miracle at #41 (and on page 1, The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary at #15), which did so in two different releases and mixes, then we should do the same for Foolish. However if we keep them separate, it helps to fill the gaps in a few positions for the non-consecutive run records, so I've handed this one to Ashanti's import single with a footnote.

#69

 

2 consecutive weeks at a peak of #69

Edwin Starr & Shadow / Troggs & Wolf - War / Wild Thing (1993)

Jermaine Jackson - Don’t Take It Personal (1989)

Lil Tjay - F.N. (2019)

(1991)

22/06/1991: 69-69

(2012)

10/12/2011: 81; 28/01/2012: 90-73-69-69

 

2 non-consecutive runs at a peak of #69

(1984)

11/02/1984: 95-70-69-71-69; 24/03/1984: 84-94

 

At least the third group from Oceania to appear in this countdown, Crowded House produced some of my favourite songs of this era, particularly from their third album, Woodface. However putting Chocolate Cake as the album's opening track and first single was, shall we say, a choice - the song seems to be particularly scathing of the US, despite the group having scored a #2 there with Don't Dream It's Over a few years earlier. This one didn't chart there, although it made #9 in Canada, and as we see, the UK didn't take to it much either. The four subsequent singles from the album all reached the Top 30 here though, including the #7 Weather With You and my personal favourite, Four Seasons In One Day.

 

Also having a two-week #69 were Kelly Rowland and Big Sean with her last UK chart hit (to date) and his first - it's a decent enough song although the production sounds very early-2010s. In case you're wondering, Shadow and Wolf were from ITV's The Gladiators although I hadn't realised any of them put a single out - what a time to be alive that was.

 

The only song to have 2 runs at a #69 peak is from an artist I'd never heard of - I see now he had a Top 40 hit in 1980. Not the most inspiring of ballads perhaps, but kudos for scraping together a 4-week Top 75 run without climbing higher.