I've always been partial to a bit of Abba, even while they were largely considered to be dated and naff.

Am sure Suedy won't mind me adding that after three superb No.1's Abba's next release, Money, Money, Money only made No.3. but it was Christmas and it was beaten by Johnny Mathis and Showaddywaddy.

At number fifteen we have the second of the two Elvis Presley songs. When I drew up the list of number ones, She’s Not You came as a bit of a surprise. I thought I would have been familiar with any Presley entries even if they came from the early 1960s (this is from 1962) but that wasn’t the case. I had to head to YouTube to give it a listen.

 

Whenever people complain about certain singers not writing their own songs, the obvious retort is “What about Elvis Presley?”. Although he sometimes received a writing credit, it is generally accepted that this was just a way of increasing his (and Tom Parker’s) income and that he didn’t contribute a single note or syllable. His talent lay in singing other people’s songs and he proved to be equally adept at tackling both outright rockers and ballads. Let’s forget about his versions of My Way and Bridge Over Troubled Water which were both woeful.

 

She’s Not You, written by the legendary songwriting duo Leiber and Stoller (Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock, Stand By Me with Ben E King) is a ballad and was released as a single between the better known Good Luck Charm and Return To Sender. It was number one in the very first Irish chart in October 1962.

She’s Not You took just three weeks to climb to the top of the UK chart, becoming Presley’s twelfth chart-topping single. It ended Frank Ifield’s seven weeks at the top with I Remember You, arriving in time for my second birthday. Also in the chart that week were Mr ‘Acker’ Bilk’s Stranger On The Shore, on its way to becoming one of the few songs to get more than 50 weeks in the top forty, Jerry Lee Lewis’s Sweet Little SIxteen (his then wife was just eighteen by then, having married Lewis when she was only thirteen), and Ray Charles’ I Can’t Stop Loving You. Also in there were two songs that later provided hits for a Neighbours couple - Little Eva’s Locomotion (later recorded by Kylie Minogue) and Brian Hyland’s Sealed With A Kiss (Jason Donovan).

 

She’s Not You stayed at number one for three weeks. The song that replaced it was a complete contrast. An old-fashioned ballad made way for The Tornados’ futuristic-sounding Telstar, celebrating the launch of the satellite of that name earlier in the year. One of the members of The Tornados was George Bellamy, father of Muse’s Matt.

 

That's a surprise to me too - that you rated it so highly! Love Lieber & Stoller, love Elvis (at his best) but this is at best a pleasant short jaunty bittersweet ballad rather than a Marie's The Name, Girl Of My Best Friend, Surrender, Return To Sender to name but a few of his great singles from his pop period :) For me, towards the lower end of the chart, and yes much lower than Way Down! Prob about 45-ish or so :D

That's a surprise to me too - that you rated it so highly! Love Lieber & Stoller, love Elvis (at his best) but this is at best a pleasant short jaunty bittersweet ballad rather than a Marie's The Name, Girl Of My Best Friend, Surrender, Return To Sender to name but a few of his great singles from his pop period :) For me, towards the lower end of the chart, and yes much lower than Way Down! Prob about 45-ish or so :D

There are plenty of Elvis number ones that would have finished higher if they had topped the chart at the right time.

I should add that one reason why She's Not You finishes so high is the quality of the vocal. It's not a great song but Presley's vocal adds something to it. I

I should add that one reason why She's Not You finishes so high is the quality of the vocal. It's not a great song but Presley's vocal adds something to it. I

 

Elvis was a fab singer, that's true :)

Elvis was a fab singer, that's true :)

 

 

I prefer this and his other ballads to his rockier stuff. Great song though he had better No.1's.

HA! Cardi and Meghan still very strong in the competition to be your birthday number 1 next Friday. :lol: Would you prefer Mood? :P

HA! Cardi and Meghan still very strong in the competition to be your birthday number 1 next Friday. :lol: Would you prefer Mood? :P

I'd prefer almost anything (except, perhaps Drake) :(

The song at number fourteen is the second of two songs from Sam Smith. One year after Too Late For Goodbyes topped the chart, he was back at the summit (in 2018) as the featured artist with Calvin Harris on Promises. I therefore needed to be very careful about how I worded the bit about The Police to have a number one single on my birthday in successive years.

 

Promises was Calvin Harris’s tenth number one and remains his last to date. His chart-toppers have included collaborations with Rihanna (We Found Love), Dua Lipa (One Kiss) and Florence Welch (Sweet Nothing). He had a big hit last year with Giant alongside fellow tall bloke Rag ‘n’ Bone Man and is currently in the charts with Over Now featuring The Weeknd. Rag’n’ Bone Man and Harris performed Giant on Graham Norton’s chat show in a week when Stephen Merchant and a tall American whose name I have forgotten were also guests. Rob Beckett (who is of roughly average height) was left saying he felt like Sandi Toksvig sitting in between them. Sam Smith has also not returned to the top in the two years since Promises so remains on seven number one singles.

 

As hinted at above, some of Sam Smith’s songs can be quite hard to listen to as their voice can be distinctly whiny at times but Promises has the advantage of being very much a Calvin Harris song with Smith’s vocals rather than a Sam Smith track produced by Harris.

 

Promises went to number one in its third week in the chart in early September, replacing Benny Blanco’s Eastside (featuring Halsey and Khalid) and was still there two weeks later. Also in the chart that week were Marshmello and Bastille’s Happier, George Ezra’s Shotgun and Panic At The Disco’s High Hopes. Calvin Harris’s previous number one, One Kiss, was still in the top forty.

 

Promises stayed at number one for five weeks before Dave and Fredo took over for a week with Funky Friday. Harris and Smith then regained the top spot for a further week before Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s Shallow replaced them.

 

 

There is now just one number one from the 21st century remaining and only one other from the second thirty years of my life.

 

I almost always like Calvin Harris pop bangers, and this is no exception, though the last time he topped my charts was with HAIM in 2015 and 2013 with Hurts. I love the "second 30 years" description given I'm now running into my 3rd 30 years, :cheer: for positivity :D

I went up to see my parents and siblings etc. yesterday ahead of his birthday on Thursday (it was meant to be next weekend until the rule changes). He is about to enter the fourth year of his fourth thirty years.

I went up to see my parents and siblings etc. yesterday ahead of his birthday on Thursday (it was meant to be next weekend until the rule changes). He is about to enter the fourth year of his fourth thirty years.

 

Wow, Happy Birthday to your dad! My dad still has another 7 years of his 3rd 30 to go. Teenage pregnancies are the tradition in Mansfield... :D

The song at number thirteen is the fourth highest-placed number one from the 1980s although it was recorded in the 1960s. The song, He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother by The Hollies, was originally a hit in 1969 when it peaked at number three. At the time, the Hollies song I was most familiar with was the rather silly Jennifer Eccles which had been a hit in 1968. Ms Eccles (who had terrible freckles) turned up again in The Scaffold’s Lily The Pink which was the Christmas number one that year. The Scaffold included the wonderful Liverpool poet Roger McGough and someone who was known as Mike McGear because it was felt that his birth name (Mike McCartney) might draw comparisons with his more famous brother.

 

After He Ain’t Heavy, the Hollies didn’t have another major hit until The Air That I Breathe reached number two in 1974. When I first heard Radiohead’s Creep in 1992, that song immediately sprang to mind. Eventually, the same applied to the songwriters’ lawyers and they now receive a credit (along with the associated royalties).

 

He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother climbed to number one in time for my 28th birthday. The song it replaced was a cover version of an even older song. A Groovy Kind Of Love, co-written by Carole Bayer-Sager, was originally a hit for The Mindbenders. That band included in their number Eric Stewart who went on to be part of 10CC. Stewart joined the Mindbenders from a previous, unsuccessful, group. When he and another member left that little-known group, the replacements were Allan Clarke and Graham Nash who later formed The Hollies. The chart-topping version of A Groovy Kind Of Love was by Phil Collins and came from the soundtrack of the film Buster in which he played the title role.

 

By a strange coincidence, another version of He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother, sung by Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers, was used in a Rambo film at the same time. As a result, that version was also in the chart. The top ten that week included Yello’s The Race, a reissue of Bill Withers’ Lovely Day and a new entry for the Pet Shop Boys with Domino Dancing. Lower down the top forty we had Bruce Springsteen’s Spare Parts, Hands To Heaven by Breathe and Guns ‘n’ Roses with Sweet Child O’ Mine.

 

The Hollies stayed at number one for a second week before slipping to number two behind U2’s first UK number one, Desire.

 

One of the people to buy the 1988 re-release of He Ain’t Heavy was 18-year-old James Aspinall as a present for his mother Margaret as it was one of her favourite songs. Just months later, on 15 April 1989, James died as one of the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster. Margaret Aspinall became one of the leading members of the (ultimately partially successful) campaign for justice for the victims of that tragedy. Because of its special meaning for her, the song was recorded by The Justice Collective in 2012 to achieve publicity and raise funds for the campaign. It was the Christmas number one that year, keeping X Factor winner James Arthur off the top.

 

The Hollies song is good but I much prefer The Air That I Breathe from 1974 but it only reached No.2.

The Hollies song is good but I much prefer The Air That I Breathe from 1974 but it only reached No.2.

I prefer The Air That I Breathe as well! (I did mention the fact that it reached number two in 1974 :P )

Classic track, and another track I missed at the time in 1969 as I was in Singapore. I bought some books of sheet music of current hits, and this one was in it, but it was 5 years before I got to hear it properly and it underwhelmed me in comparison to great Hollies singles like Bus Stop, Sorry Suzanne, Stop Stop Stop, I'm Alive, Long Tall Woman, Crazy Billy and Air That I Breathe - but it grew on me over time and it also topped my charts in 1988.

 

I love the intertwining of musical "families" in pop, and it's satisfying when you get to spot all the links like this little gem of research :)

One of the joys of doing the research for this! (And a reminder that Only Connect is back next week :cheer: )

Another advantage of the research is that it has been very helpful in the last week or two in getting the year right on Popmaster :D